Walk in the Sun
by wintervixen86
Summary: SEQUAL to Muscrove Apartments... six months later Amber finds herself caught up in Danny's life once again.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Walk in the Sun Sequel to Muscrove Apartments

**Author: **Jodie

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **(Sequel to Muscrove Apartments)

**Disclaimer: **I don't know McFly, nor am I associated with their management. This is a work of pure and utter fiction sprung from my wild imagination.

**Authors Note: **This is the sequel to Muscrove Apartments. So it might be a good idea to read that first just to get the gist of what's going on.

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**Chapter One **

_Six Months Later_

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I rushed past reception my heels clicking on the marble floor.

"You are late Amber."

"I know. I'm sorry," I called over my shoulder as I hurried over to the elevator and pressed the up button, "you would not believe the morning I have had."

"I don't think I want to know," Stacey mused from behind her desk. "Monica has been asking for you all morning."

I cringed, "really? What does the Gremlin want now?"

Stacey pointed at me, "she'd fire you if she heard you saying that."

I jabbed at the elevator button again, "she wouldn't fire me. I'm the best publicist she has."

"And the most modest too," Stacey put in.

I ignored her and sighed in relief when the doors pinged open, "oh thank god. See you later Stacey."

"Of course."

I stepped into the elevator and dropped my heavy handbag with a sigh of relief. Could my life get any crazier? Ever since the Gremlin (or Monica as I knew her now) granted me a promotion I had been run off my feet. On the one hand I loved it, and it certainly kept my mind off… _him_. On the other hand I had never been so exhausted in my life.

Ten floors up, the doors pinged open and I stepped out.

"Where have you been Amber? Do you realise you're two hours late? You look tired, have you been eating well?"

I blinked and stared at the unfamiliar young woman in front of me, "wow. What a way to start the morning."

She smiled and extended her hand in greeting, "sorry. My name is Julie, and I'm your new assistant."

I was floored, "I never had an old assistant. But hello."

She took my handbag out of my arms, "Monica would like to see you in her office. I'll re-schedule all your appointments."

A million questions flew into my head. I was just opening my mouth to ask one, when Julie took my arm and forcefully steered me down the hall into Monica's office.

"Ah Amber, its about time you arrived," Monica said as a greeting as I stepped into her office.

"I'm so sorry," I apologised as I slid into the seat opposite her, "I had a horrible morning." I watched Julie leave the office, "and who is that?"

"That is your new assistant," Monica replied not lifting her eyes from the document she was highlighting, "I believe you will find her adequate."

I must have missed something, "since when do I need an assistant?"

"That's why I called you into my office," Monica informed me, finally putting down her paperwork and focusing her attention on me, "I have a new client for you. One that will demand quite a lot of your attention."

I inwardly groaned. I didn't think I could stand representing another dead end client who was going nowhere no matter how much publicity I generated around them.

"I know that I've been giving you, shall we say, the scraps," Monica continued, "but you have shown me that you are a hard worker, so I'm giving you a client that most people in the business would kill for."

"That's very kind of you," I smiled inwardly jumping for joy. Finally, after a year and a half working at 'Starz Public Relations' I was finally moving up the ladder.

Monica nodded and slid a thick folder across the table towards me, "I believe you are familiar with them. If you play your cards right I see very good things for you Amber."

I opened the folder and glanced at the first page curiously. My heart plummeted and I closed my eyes in disbelief. You had to be kidding me.

I was vaguely aware of Monica talking, but I couldn't hear a word she was saying as I stared at the picture in front of me.

McFly.

Four boys. So incredibly familiar yet at the same time complete and utter strangers. Six months ago I would have called them friends… but now… now I didn't know what to think.

Unable to help myself, my eyes focused on him.

Danny Jones.

Mr Room 302.

It had been six months since I had last seen him. Six months, since they fateful day when I had promised to wait and he had promised to come back. But he didn't come back, and he didn't call, and I was left wondering what went wrong.

I rubbed a hand over my eyes and forced myself to tune back in to what Monica was saying.

"… releasing their new album in September. I haven't heard any of the tracks, but the usual promotion will be undertaken. Signings, interviews, photo shoots. You know the drill. You've been working in this industry long enough to…"

"I can't," I blurted suddenly.

Monica raised an eyebrow "excuse me?"

I felt like I was going to have a panic attack, "Monica, I'm really flattered that you would even consider me for such a high level client, but I can't. It's a really long story and…"

"Amber," Monica began slowly, "this isn't open for discussion."

I rubbed my temples, "but…"

"My decision is final."

"I really think you should reconsider," I pleaded desperately, "It wouldn't be ethical for me to work with McFly. I know them. We used to…"

"I understand that you were friends…"

"I slept with Danny!" I blurted.

Monica took off her glasses and polished them slowly on her shirt, before putting them back on. "Amber, this is a professional industry. I don't care if you married him. You have a job to do, so I suggest you put your personal feelings aside. That will be all."

I think I was in some form of shock as I robotically got to my feet and headed to the door.

"Oh and Amber?"

I froze.

"Please come to work on time from now on."

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I had a permanent scowl fixed upon my face by the time I got home that afternoon. To make matters worse my head was throbbing and my stomach was lurching so violently that I was sure I was going to be sick.

As I walked down the hallway to my apartment I realised there was a lot of commotion going on outside my apartment.

"What's going on?" I asked curiously as I got closer.

"Oh Amber," my landlord Lewis smiled, "its nothing for you to worry about. These gentlemen here just have the wrong room."

My eyes scanned over the two beefy looking men, "wrong room?"

"Young man who used to live in 302 is selling the apartment," Lewis informed me, "these men are here to remove all his possessions."

"Oh," I murmured quietly, "when did this happen?"

"The selling?"

I nodded.

"The young chap called me up last night," Lewis informed me, "such a nice young man."

My stomach lurched.

"I'm surprised you didn't know Amber," Lewis continued as I began to desperately fish through my bag for my keys. "You two always seemed rather close."

"We were," I murmured as I unlocked my apartment door, "but not anymore. Good night Lewis.' I smiled softly and stepped into my apartment, closing the door behind me with a soft click.

Outside I could hear the removalists puffing and grunting as they packed up Danny's stuff and carted it downstairs. Unable to listen any longer I cranked up some music before falling onto my bed and sighing heavily.

Ring ring

Ring ring

I flipped open my phone, "hello?"

"Omg, Amber I just heard. I cannot believe that the Gremlin would assign you to McFly!"

I rubbed my temples, "I don't want to talk about it."

Lana sighed, "You never want to talk about it. Maybe it would be good for you to talk."

I shook my head, "what could I possibly say?"

"I don't know," Lana, replied, "that you hate the lying piece of scum."

"Well that would just be stating the obvious," I replied rolling onto my side, "I mean, bloody hell! What went wrong Lana? What changed? Why didn't he call? Why in the hell isn't he coming back? I got home today and Lewis informs me that he's selling his apartment. Why would he do that?"

"I don't know babe," Lana replied softly, "what are you going to do?"

I sighed heavily, "Grow up and face the facts that there's not much I can do about it. The Gremlin isn't taking no for an answer."

"So you're just going to accept it?" Lana asked in disbelief, "Amber, as McFly's publicist you'll be with him throughout the entire press junket."

"I know," I murmured, "but there's not much I can do about it right now. I'm a professional I can deal with this."

"Yeah?" Lana asked doubtfully.

"Yeah."

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To be continued...

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Hello, my names Amber Blair from Starz Publicity how are you today?"

"I'm very well, how are you?"

"I'm good thank you. I'm just calling to make our first appointment."

"I can free up the boys schedule for whenever works for you."

"Ok, how about Monday, 9am sharp."

"Sounds wonderful. See you then."

"Bye."

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"He made the front page again."

I shuffled in my seat and stared at my coffee.

"Amber if you can't even look at Danny in a tabloid, how are you going to look him in real life?" Lana questioned.

I removed my eyes from my coffee and stared out the window of my local café instead. "I don't want to see him with blond of the week. Its torturous."

"Actually it's a brunette this week," Lana informed me.

"Wow he's broken his track record," I remarked bitterly, "six months of blonds."

"Amber," Lana began as she slid the tabloid into her bag, "I love you. But you have a meeting with McFly and their management tomorrow morning. You need to pull yourself together."

"I'm fine." I insisted.

"No your not." Lana retaliated, "whenever Danny is mentioned you go to pieces."

"That's not true."

"It is true!" Lana replied, "You pretend that you're fine and that you're over it, but you're not. How in the world can you walk into that meeting tomorrow without knowing what to expect? You could walk into that room, take one look at him and burst into tears."

I rolled my eyes, "please, I'm a professional Lana."

Lana shoved the tabloid into my face, "then prove it Amber."

I glanced at the tabloid. Images of Danny and an unfamiliar female adorned the page. The title "Danny Jones finally finds love" was splayed across the centre. I trailed my eyes slowly over the page, forcing myself to look at the images of them laughing together, holding hands and kissing.

I couldn't stop the tear that ran down my cheek.

Lana put the tabloid away. "Were you in love with him?" she asked quietly.

I shook my head and stared into my coffee, "it doesn't matter anymore."

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_Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap_

"Amber?"

I ceased my nervous tapping and looked up at Julie, "yeah."

"Your 9 o'clock is ready for you now."

_Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap_

"Amber?"

I ceased my tapping and smoothed down my hair, "sorry. I'm just…" I sighed and bit my lip, "did you see them into the meeting room?"

Julie nodded, 'I did."

"How did they look?"

Julie looked at me strangely.

I laughed nervously, "sorry. It's just… I knew them… a long time ago."

"Oh," Julie laughed, "well in that case, they looked well. I think."

I shook my head and stood up, "I'm being a baby. Take me to them."

We got halfway down the hallway when I panicked.

"Wait!" I whispered.

Julie stopped and looked at me.

"I can't do this. This is too weird. Quick give me some inspiration," I whispered.

"Amber you don't need any inspiration," Julie replied softly, "you are a strong and intelligent woman, and you look stunning today. You are going to blow them all away."

I pointed at her, "you are a really good assistant."

Julie nodded, and opened the door for me.

Summoning together every piece of strength and confidence I possessed, I stepped over the threshold.

The boys and their manager were standing around happily munching on chocolate chip cookies and sipping coffee when I stepped into the room.

My eyes immediately flew to Danny.

Seeing him for the first time in six months caused mixed emotions. Half of me wanted to take off my shoe and hit him with it, while the other half wanted him to take me into his arms and explain why he hadn't called.

Neither of those things happened of course. So instead I took a few more steps into the room.

It took them awhile to notice me, but when they did I wish I had a video camera to film their reactions.

Tom's mouth dropped open, Dougie dropped his cookie, and Harry's eyes were so wide they were like saucers. The only person who hadn't moved was Danny who was frozen staring at me like I was a ghost.

Somehow I got the feeling they weren't expecting me as much as I was expecting them. I smiled cheerfully, "good morning."

"You must be Amber," their manager smiled getting to his feet and shaking my hand, "I've heard so many things about you."

Clearly not from Danny, I mused inwardly. "All good things I hope."

"Wonderful things, you come highly recommended. I'm Fletch"

I smiled, "Fletch, a pleasure to meet you."

"This is Tom, Dougie, Harry and Danny," he introduced.

I forced a natural smile, "pleasure to meet you all."

Tom looked at Harry, and then back to me in disbelief, "meet?" he echoed.

I ignored him, "well lets get started shall we? Take a seat everyone."

_Half an hour later_

"I've devised a three week press junket," I informed everyone as I walked around the room handing out booklets. I had really hit my peak by this point. Public speaking always relaxed me. "Talk shows, interviews, photo shoots… you guys know the deal. I'm sure you've done it all before."

Tom nodded. Harry was flicking through his booklet. Dougie was still eating cookies. Meanwhile Danny was slumped so far down into his seat he was about to disappear under the table.

"I've also arranged a number of appearances. The main goal is to just get your faces out there. You've been on tour for a while, and you've been in the studio, it is time to get back into the limelight. Parties, movie premieres, restaurant openings. My personal goal is to just generate as much publicity for your new album as possible. We want maximum sales, and maximum chart potential."

God I was good at what I did.

Fletch nodded, "what about girlfriends?"

"What about them?" I asked casually, meanwhile my heart was thumping so loud I swear everyone could hear.

Fletch shrugged, "our last publicist felt that sales would increase if the boys remained single."

I flicked my eyes around the room. Tom, Dougie and Harry were all looking at me curiously, while Danny was looking everywhere but me.

I shrugged, "I think you are all big boys and you can do what you like. I'm your publicist, not your mother. Do whatever you want, I'll put a positive spin on it." My eyes flicked to the clock, "well I guess that wraps it up for today. Same time next week?"

Fletch nodded and shook my hand, "thank you."

Danny practically ran out of the room, followed closely by Dougie, Harry and Fletch.

I was just packing up my laptop when I noticed Tom was still in the room.

I looked at him curiously, "yes?"

"Look," Tom began, "I know this is awkward, but we didn't think we'd be working with you in particular and…"

I waved my hand, "look, lets not make this personal alright. I'm a publicist and you're my client." I shrugged, "lets just leave it at that."

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"How was it?"

I bit into a Tim-tam, "horrible."

Lana plopped herself down on my desk, "really? I heard it went well. According to Julie, Fletch was really impressed."

I shrugged, "well from a professional point of view it went great. From an emotional point of view…" I trailed off.

"Oh," Lana murmured, "that bad huh?"

"He wouldn't even look at me," I murmured.

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To be continued...

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	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

I stared at my computer screen thoughtfully, before highlighting a large selection of text and deleting it with a flourish.

"There just isn't enough hours in the day," I muttered under my breath as I trailed my eyes over the shortened list of interviews I had arranged for McFly.

Even after a few days of thought, I still wasn't wild about the idea of working in such close proximity to the boys. But I had accepted the fact that the Gremlin would never let me change artists.

"And that ladies and gentlemen," I muttered to no one in particular, "is why she is called the Gremlin."

"You know, talking to yourself is one of the first signs of insanity," Lana grinned plopping down on the edge of my desk and crossing her legs.

I pointed at her, "Nothing is serious until you start having full blown conversations with yourself."

"Have you been reduced to that yet?"

I shook my head and took a sip of my coffee, "not yet. But ask me again this time next week."

"I'm sure with a nice cup of coffee and a pack of Tim-Tams you will be fine," Lana assured me.

"The story of my life," I remarked with a roll of my eyes. "So, have a look at this," I told her manoeuvring my computer screen so it was facing her direction.

Lana scanned it quickly, "when will you be sleeping?"

I grimaced, "really? This version has been cut down heaps since my original draft."

"You know," Lana began slowly…

"Don't say it," I interrupted.

"Don't say what?" Lana asked innocently.

"Whatever you were going to say," I answered gesturing to her with my coffee mug, 'I don't want to hear it."

Lana shrugged, "alright then. But anyways, the reason I came over is to see what you're doing tonight?"

"Oh god Lana," I moaned, "whatever you have planned I can't. I have so much to get done before Monday morning."

"Well I have tickets to…"

I gasped and covered my ears, "don't tell me. I don't want to know. Don't tempt me."

Lana grinned and hoped off my desk, "alright then. But you're missing out."

"Shut up you."

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Later on that night I found myself sprawled out on the floor in my apartment surrounded by take away Chinese, scraps of paper, my laptop and other random gizmos and gadgets. I was dressed for a night in… in my pyjamas, my hair pulled off my face into something that vaguely resembled a ponytail. In short, I looked like an absolute mess.

_Knock, knock_

I looked up from my laptop towards the door and rolled my eyes. I slowly got to my feet, my legs taking a while to un-cramp from the position they had been in for the past few hours.

_Knock, knock_

"Hang on," I yelled, stepped over a pile of clothes to reach the door. I flung it open, "I'm…" I trailed off.

On the other side of my door stood Danny.

I stared at him in shock.

His eyes met mine and he gazed at me for several long moments. "Hi," he mumbled.

It took me exactly 3.2 seconds to come to my senses. I slammed the door in his face.

I was breathing like I had just run a marathon, as I stood frozen for several moments staring at the white of my door and listening as Danny's footsteps faded away. When I managed to calm down I rubbed my eyes and groaned. Making up my mind, I crossed the room and grabbed my phone, quickly dialling Lana's number.

'Hey Lana," I greeted once she picked up, "where did you say you were going tonight? And will there be alcohol involved?"

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I drank a lot that night… I know it seems childish, but at the time, all I really wanted was a few stiff drinks and a big group of people to take my mind off… him. Luckily for me I got exactly what I wanted… a night out at a new club that had just opened, good company, good music, and lots of drinks.

I have some vague recollections about the night. I recall dancing and singing along to "I Will Survive" on the dance floor and drinking way too many cocktails… a tall blond guy trying to come onto me… and giggling and stumbling into the girl's bathroom with Lana, before ordering a round of shots.

By the time I was stumbling down the sidewalk towards my apartment several hours later, the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon.

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**Crash!**

I groaned and rolled over in bed, clutching my head with one hand and my stomach with the other.

**Bang!**

I pried my eyes open and glared at the door to my apartment. Someone was making a terrible racket out in the hallway. Meanwhile I was hung over and cranky due to lack of sleep. Not a good combination.

**Crash!**

I groaned and rolled over, burying my head underneath my pillow in attempt to block out the noise. My effort was fruitless… I could still hear the banging, and it was making my head pound like there was a marching band inside it.

Muttering under my breath I rolled out of bed and stumbled across my apartment towards the door. My head spun and my stomach churned and I was promising myself that I would never drink again as I opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

I almost ran straight into a white couch, and I looked around in drunken confusion at all the furniture littering the surrounding area. Couches, tables, a big fuzzy beanbag, a stack of books, a coffee table, a large stereo and plasma TV… the list went on. I decided right then and there that I was still ridiculously drunk, as my mind seemed to be very sluggish in processing why all the furniture was there.

But then, the question was answered for me when another crash echoed around the hallway and I noticed a chair was being dragged down the hallway into room 302.

What the fuck? Who in the hell decided to move all their junk into their apartment so early in the morning?

"Can you keep the noise down?" I bellowed, deciding immediately that a hangover wasn't good for my temper, "its early and I'm hung over and I'm plotting the death of my ex boyfriend and…" my voice died in my throat.

Because just at that moment a guy had emerged from behind the chair and with one glance I suddenly realised how very attractive he was, and I suddenly felt like an idiot for storming out of my room and yelling at him while adorned in my yellow duck pyjamas.

"I'm sorry," he apologised immediately, stepping out from behind the chair and closing the distance between us, "I didn't realise anyone would be sleeping at this time of day. I'm James, and you must be my new neighbour."

I looked at his eyes. They were a deep shade of brown that I could have easily got lost in. "Yeah. I'm Amber," I replied, reaching out and shaking his proffered hand, "sorry for yelling at you."

"That's alright. Big night?"

I nodded, "you could say that."

"Plotting the death of your ex?" he questioned, eyes twinkling with amusement.

I looked down bashfully; I hadn't meant to blurt that out. "It's a long story."

"Well maybe you can tell it to me sometime," James suggested before smiling and trailing his eyes over my attire. "Sorry to wake you. I'll try to be quieter."

"Thank you," I said gratefully while massaging my temples. Yawning I turned around and stumbled back into my room, before closing the door behind me.

So I guess I just met the new Mr 302. But somehow the title just didn't seem to fit him like it did for Danny.

As I stumbled back over to my bed, I caught sight of my appearance in the mirror. My hair resembled a bird's nest, my eyes were bloodshot, my shirt was inside out and I had eyeliner and mascara smudged all over my face.

I groaned and fell down onto my bed, burying into the covers. Why did I always happen to run into cute next-door neighbours when I looked like shit?

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Once my stomach stopped churning, and the room stopped spinning, I managed to stumble out of bed, make a coffee, have a shower, and grab my laptop before stumbling out onto my balcony. I was just settling down and booting up my laptop when my mobile phone rang.

I picked it up without looking a caller ID, "hello?"

"How are you feeling drunkie?"

I settled back into my seat and smiled. Trust Lana to be all cheery the day after a huge night out, "Well I feel fine, but I think my livers given up. It's going to pack up and leave any day now."

Lana laughed, "well. I have something that's going to make it feel much better?"

"Yeah?" I questioned, typing in my password to gain access to my computer, "What's that?"

"Well it's a bit of a secret, but what are you doing tonight?"

I groaned, "Lana, please don't tell me there's another social outing that will keep me from getting my work done. I have a stack of paperwork in front of me that's almost as tall as I am."

I could almost hear Lana pouting on the other end of the phone, "Aw come on Amber. This is really important, and if you promise to come then I promise to help you with all your work tomorrow. Please?"

"Is it really necessary that I be there?" I questioned as I picked up the file closest to me and began flipping through its contents, "I need to get through all this by Monday."

"You definitely have to be here," Lana insisted, "This is the biggest news of my life I'm giving tonight."

I paused flicking through my documents and frowned, "your not pregnant are you?"

Lana laughed, "no."

I sighed in defeat, "alright, but whatever is going on tonight better be worth it."

"It will be," Lana insisted.

"And if I lose my job…" I threatened.

"You wont lose your job," Lana told me, "I'll help you with all your work. We'll stay up all tomorrow night if we have to."

I smiled and resumed flipping, "alright then. When and where?"

"My house. Seven o'clock."

I pencilled it in on my day planner, which was already so full I had to squeeze it into the corner between _Organise a copy of demo to be sent to radio _and _call mum before she thinks I've dropped off the planet. _"Alright I'll be there."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes I promise. Do you need me to bring anything?"

"Just your lovely self."

"Alright. I'll see you at seven."

"Hey Amber?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, just warning you now… Danny will probably be here."

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To be continued...

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	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

I stared at the dark wood panelling of Lana's front door before trailing my eyes across to the doorbell and eyeing it nervously. I bit my lip and played with my fingernails for several long moments, as I attempted to work up the courage to enter the party.

I was late. It had taken every ounce of the willpower I possessed to get dressed and come here. I was nervous beyond all belief that I would run into Danny and it would be awful. I was torn between wanting to ignore him, or walk up and slap him.

I nervously smoothed down my dress, and brushed my hair out of my eyes, before recklessly reaching out and pressing the doorbell before I could stop myself.

The door flung open before I could change my mind, and Lana grinned at me excitedly, "about time you got here," she said as she launched herself forward and hugged me in greeting.

"Wow," I laughed, as the force of her greeting nearly knocked me off my feet, "are you drunk already Lana?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lana replied innocently, "but lets go get you a drink, I think you'll need one."

I frowned and allowed her to drag me through the surprisingly packed party to the kitchen, "I don't like the sound of that."

Lana pressed a tequila shot into my hand and I stared at it blankly, "I hate tequila."

Lana pointed across the room.

I followed her gaze and my insides turned to ice when my eyes landed on Danny. But he wasn't alone… he was joined by a gorgeous blond who was clinging to his arm and laughing at something he had said.

"I'm leaving."

"No Amber you can't," Lana whined grabbing onto my arm and preventing me from moving. "You promised you'd be here for me."

I glared at her, "Lana you can't be serious?"

Lana pressed the entire bottle of tequila into my arms," look, you just do whatever you need to do. But I need you here, at least until my announcement ok?"

I downed the shot and poured myself another, "fine, but I'm out of here as soon as you announce whatever it is you're going to announce. Deal?"

Lana grinned, "deal. Now you go do what you do best."

"Yeah?" I asked, "and what's that?"

"Just network like the sexy Public Relations consultant you are."

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"So Amber I just loved what you did for the Jane McGraw Benefit. The colours were just darling. I think I just could have taken a bath in those beautiful reds and gold's."

I smiled politely and inwardly wracked my brains as I attempted to remember which benefit this random lady was talking about. I had organised a million parties over the past few months and they were all starting to blend together.

My tequila haze wasn't helping my short-term memory either.

Finally a fuzzy picture of an oriental theme swam into my mind and I almost cried in relief, "I'm so glad you enjoyed the evening. Do you attend many charity events?"

The lady whose name I had already forgotten smiled, "only the ones you organise my dear. You know, I told my husband the other night that the event management industry is going to the dogs. I mean…"

I tuned her out as she started to blab using eccentric hand movements that showed off every diamond on her stubby fingers. I frowned as she spoke, trying to remember the exact moment I had suddenly became 'known' within the industry. Unable to find the exact point in time, I just shrugged and let my eyes wander around the room.

My movements were casual, but I knew exactly who I was looking for. I stared at him, watching shamelessly as he took a sip of his drink and smiled politely at the group of people around him. If there was one person who was making more small talk then I was tonight, it was definitely him. Despite the sheer annoyance I felt when I looked at him, I still had to respect the way he handled himself within a crowd. He spoke to everyone, and treated them all the same, giving them generous amounts of his time and asking for nothing in return… I could never do that… I was far too impatient.

Then suddenly, as though he knew he was being watched, his eyes met mine. I froze and desperately tried to tear my eyes away but they were stuck on his… blue on brown.

Then oh so subtly he nodded with his head to the lady in front of him and rolled his eyes, a small smile crossing his lips.

I couldn't help the smile that crossed my lips at his antics.

"Amber, dear?"

My mind flew back into the present and I inwardly hit myself for being so stupid. What in the world was I thinking making doo-eyes across the room at him as though nothing was wrong and we were living eight months in the past.

"I'm sorry?"

"I asked what you think of the event management field?"

"I dabble in it from time to time," I replied politely, "but I prefer to be behind a desk working with the media." I paused, "excuse me I have to use the bathroom."

Then without another word, I tore across the room as quickly as I could.

I felt his eyes on me the entire way.

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I spent as long as humanly possible in the bathroom, attempting to get myself under control and back into the right frame of mind. But finally after a good fifteen minutes, I stepped back into the room, immediately grabbing a glass of champagne from a near by tray, just for the sake of having something in my hands.

"Omg, Amber Blair?"

I cursed under my breath. What now?

I turned quickly and nearly had a heart attack when I noticed Danny's blond date hurrying towards me, dragging a reluctant Danny behind her. I stared at them in shock, could my night get any worse?

"Oh this is such an honour," the blond said with a large smile reaching out and shaking my hand excitedly, "I'm such a fan of your work. I'm studying public relations at university and I just admire your career so much."

I stared her in amazement, before glancing quickly at Danny who was staring at the floor, a soft flush in his cheeks. "Well, thank you," I finally replied to the girl as civilly as I could despite wanting to throttle her.

"Can I get you a drink?" she asked.

I raised an eyebrows in surprise, "oh… well…"

"Great," she cut me off, and set off in the direction of the kitchen leaving Danny and I standing awkwardly in one another's presence.

I clutched the stem of my wine glass like a lifeline. I hated awkward silences.

'Sorry about that," Danny finally said, looking at me sheepishly, "she's a bit…"

"Its ok,' I cut him off quickly before frowning. It felt utterly ironic that my first words spoken to him in six months were 'its ok' because things were definitely not ok.

He opened his mouth to reply but suddenly the tinkling of glasses filled the room and he closed his mouth and shook his head instead.

I turned my attention to the front of the room where Lana was standing unsteadily on a chair holding a glass of wine and tapping it with a butter knife, "can I have everyone's attention!" she shouted.

A hush slowly fell over the room and Lana grinned, "Well, first of all I want to thank everyone for coming. I know some of us," she tossed me a meaningful glance, "had our reasons not to be here, but it's a sign of true friendship that we are all here anyway."

I shifted uncomfortably, fully aware of Danny looking at me curiously after Lana's statement.

"I have some very important news," Lana smiled and paused for dramatic effect, "Eric and I… are engaged!"

My mouth dropped open and the cheers and claps drowned out my shriek of excitement. I immediately pushed my way to the front of the room before tackling Lana to the floor in a hug. "Omg!" I yelled, "congratulations!"

Lana laughed, and detangled herself from me before standing up and yelling, "drinks all around!"

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Several hours later, my awkward encounter with Danny was forgotten as I sat around a table with Lana, Eric and several others making loud and boisterous toasts to everything we could think of… to Lana… to Eric… to marriage… to good health… to friends… to good weather… it was like a really messed up celebratory drinking game.

"To drinking!" I toasted loudly, pouring what felt like my millionth shot down my throat.

"To drinking!" everyone echoed clinking their glasses together and drinking as one.

"To my best friend Amber!" Lana called.

"To best friend Amber!" everyone echoed.

I laughed and took a sip of my drink, "Lana I'm so excited for you."

She grinned at me, her eyes bright with excitement, as she stumbled to her feet, "I need to ask you something, c'mon."

I allowed her to drag me over to a nearby couch and we both fell onto it. I waited patiently for the room to stop spinning before turning my attention to Lana's three faces, "what?"

"Amber," she said seriously before bursting out into a fit of drunken giggles.

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips, "what?"

Lana giggled a bit longer before finally getting herself together and taking a deep calming breath, "Will you be my Maid of Honour?"

My mouth dropped open and I smiled, "of course I will be!"

Lana shrieked and hugged me, "I'm so glad." She held up an imaginary glass, "to the wedding."

"The wedding!" I echoed.

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It was extremely late. So late, it was early, and I was pretty sure the sun was going to rise anytime now. I found myself slumped on the couch, half asleep as the last strands of the party bustled around me. Through my hazy vision I could see Lana fast asleep on the couch opposite me, and across the room I could just make out Eric sitting at the table with a few guys.

I sighed and snuggled down into the couch closing my eyes.

"_Do you think we should let her sleep?"_

"_I can take her home."_

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yeah, its fine, she's on my way."_

The soft voices drifted into my senses and I opened one eye to find Eric's face inches from mine. "What?" I asked, my voice thick with sleep.

"Do you want to head home Amber?" Eric asked, "Sleep in your own bed?"

"Sure," I murmured, closing my eyes, and allowing him to help me up off the couch. "Thanks for the great party," I mumbled as a strong arm wrapped around me and helped me towards the door.

"Thanks for coming," Eric replied from somewhere in front of me.

I sighed and shifted closer to the warm presence beside me. I didn't remember Eric smelling like cool night air, and cologne. But I was too tired to care, so I just allowed him to manoeuvrer me out of the house, down the driveway and into a car.

It was about five minutes into the trip that the last tresses of sleep trickled from my mind, and I was able to take in my surroundings. I opened my eyes and glanced at the dark dash of the car in front of me. I frowned in confusion… the interior of Eric's car was brown… I blinked several times and turned my attention to the guy in the drivers seat.

I suddenly realised where I was and who I was with and I immediately jumped into autopilot, "Stop the car!" I ordered.

Danny looked at me in surprise, obviously a little shocked that someone so drunk could move so quickly, "what?"

I unbuckled my seat belt, "let me out."

Danny looked at me bewildered before obeying politely and pulling over.

I immediately threw open the car door and began storming off in the general direction of my apartment. I was several meters down the road before Danny figured out what was going on.

"Amber what are you doing?" he shouted after me, "are you insane?"

I continued to storm down the road as the car re-started and Danny accelerated to drive beside me. "Where are you going?"

"Away from you," I hissed.

"Don't be silly Amber, your apartment is miles away."

I didn't reply. My mind was surprisingly clear as I walked… if I was lucky I could walk off my entire hangover, and get away from Danny. It was a win-win situation. Killing two birds with one stone as my mother would say.

"If you don't get in the car I'm just going to drive alongside you anyway," Danny informed me.

I suddenly stopped walking and turned to look at him, "what in the hell are you trying to do Danny?"

Danny braked the car; "I'm taking you home."

"Taking me home?" I yelled, "more like taking advantage of me in my drunken state. You know very well I'd never get in a car with you."

"I know you wouldn't. But I just thought this could be a good opportunity to talk." Danny tried to explain as he turned of the engine and rounded the car towards me.

"To talk?" I repeated placing my hands on my hips and glared at him, "talk about what?"

"About where I've been for the past six months. I…"

I cut him off angrily, "I don't even want to look at you right now, let alone hear what you have to say."

"Amber, just let me…"

I rubbed furiously at my eyes, "no Dan. I'm done listening, and I'm done waiting. I don't know what happened and I don't know what went wrong. But I'm done wondering. I don't care anymore alright?"

"You don't mean that."

"Yeah I do," I insisted. I sighed, "Look, just stay away from me alright?"

Danny stared at me for a few moments before dropping his eyes and shrugging, "fine. But if you'd just hear me out I could…"

I shook my head desperately. "No. I'm serious Danny, Just forget about it."

"I can't forget about it!" Danny yelled at me. "I need some closure…."

"Closure," I repeated incredulously before shaking my head and taking back off down the road.

"You think you need closure?" I ranted as I paced back and forth. "I saw what happened. You dated blonds for six months. You didn't call me. Hell you sold your apartment! You think you have no idea what's going on… I'm the one in the lurch here… I'm the one who waited around wondering, but you know what…I'm done waiting around for you Danny."

"So this is how it's going to be?" Danny questioned gesturing between us, "this hostility."

I looked away from him in annoyance, "well it could have been something more than that, but you fucked it up."

"Why wont you just hear me out? Hear my side of the story?"

"Because I don't want to get hurt again!" I yelled.

Silence.

Danny stared at me, before lowering his eyes and shoving his hands into his pockets.

I sighed, "look, I don't doubt that you have a story to make everything better. But did it ever occur to you that maybe I don't want things between us resolved? Maybe I just want to go on hating you for a while."

Danny looked off down the road a frown marring his features. It was at that moment I realised I had hurt his feelings. I sighed, "just take me home alright?"

"Ok," he murmured softly.

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To be continued...

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	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

I pushed open the heavy wooden doors to the local library so hard that they struck against the opposite wall. Every pair of eyes in the room flew to mine.

I grimaced and hurried through the foyer before disappearing into the closest row of books.

"Romance… romance," I muttered under my breath as I darted silently down the rows attempting to find what I was looking for.

To be perfectly honest, I hated romance novels. I thought they were tacky and unrealistic and usually written by authors who weren't good enough to write anything of substance. But, I had been sitting at work only a few hours before, staring blankly at my computer screen, when I was suddenly overcome with the intense desire for a sappy romance … and lots of them…

Inwardly I knew it wasn't really a crappy paperback that I wanted… but more so a way to keep my mind off Danny and the fight.

The confrontation between us had been plaguing me for days… the whole thing was a large inconvenience as far as I was concerned because every time I thought about us yelling at each other, I would promptly drop whatever I was holding.

It had reached the stage where I was so tired of my paper work scattering all over the floor that I was seriously considering paying Julie extra so she could follow me around and hold all my things.

I hated that I was letting him get to me. But the hurt expression on his face seemed to be imprinted in my mind, and every time I thought about it, a twinge of guilt would run through me. Maybe I should have just listened to what he had to say…

I sighed and shook my head before reaching out and grabbing books off the shelf at random. When I had a sufficient amount in my arms, I turned and hurried back through the rows.

I had just spotted the loans desk and was hurrying towards it when I slammed into someone and all my books tumbled out of my arms and to the floor.

"Sorry," I muttered as I bent down and hurriedly gathered them together.

"That's ok," the guy replied as he bent down to help me. He picked up one of my books and glanced at the cover, "interesting reading selection."

I felt my face flush, and I realised this was the book variation of being in a car crash. That horrible moment of being hit and then realising that you have to leave the comfort of your car and show the entire highway that you're wearing your green frog pyjamas and fluffy slippers.

I cringed, "I don't usually read stuff like this."

"Just like you don't usually yell at people in your hallway for making too much noise?"

I froze and slowly lifted my eyes. They trailed over blue jeans and a black jumper, before resting on familiar brown eyes. "Oh, it's you," I muttered with a frown.

Jay raised an eyebrow, "don't act like you're happy to see me or anything."

"Sorry," I apologised hastily, "but of all the people I'd hate to see me with a bunch of erotic novels, you would probably be in my top five."

"Well, I wont tell anyone you have a secret obsession with…" Jay glanced at the cover of the book he was holding, "blond men in pirate outfits." (Authors note: I changed his name because everyone thought I meant James Bourne!)

I snatched the book from him, "hey, I'm a female alright? We all have our moments of weakness."

Jay grinned, "fair enough."

I stood up, "I'm going now. But if we ever run into each other again, I'm going to pretend this whole afternoon never happened. Ok?"

"Sure Jack Sparrow, that's fine," Jay replied with an innocent expression.

I glared at him before turning and hurrying out of the library.

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Knock, knock

"Come in," I called, without lifting my eyes from my novel.

I heard the door open and someone stepped into the room.

Silence.

Curiosity getting the best of me I looked up to see Lana standing just inside my doorway staring at me in shock, "Amber, correct me if I'm wrong, but are you reading a book that has a blond pirate on the cover?"

"Huh?" I glanced at the cover, "oh yeah, I am."

"I thought you hated romance novels?"

I book marked the page, "how do you know it's a romance? It could be a really exciting adventure."

"The title kind of gave it away," Lana replied as she crossed my apartment and plopped down on the end of my bed, "'Lust at Sea' written in curly pink writing."

"Yeah well, I just need something to keep my mind off…." I paused, "things."

Lana raised an eyebrow, "is it working?"

"Reading about the sex life of a pirate. Hell yeah."

Lana picked up the novel and opened it at a random page. She glanced over the writing before raising an eyebrow, "wow."

"Yep."

She flicked over a few more pages, "wow."

I nodded, "yep."

"This pirate can certainly…" she skipped ahead a few more pages, "can I borrow this when your done?"

I laughed, "of course, but only if you don't get any lewd ideas. You're engaged now, you know? We can't have Mr fiction here making your sex life seem…" I paused and searched for a correct word.

"Quick?" Lana suggested; her eyes glued to the novel. "Ya know if I wrote a novel about my sex life, I don't think it would…" she flicked over a few more pages, "last this long. Maybe I should break off the engagement and run away to sea to marry a pirate."

I snatched the novel off her and tossed it across the room, "see! This is why I hate romance novels. They just create all these high standards and make everyone else's lives seem crappy in comparison."

"Everyone else's, or just yours?" Lana questioned with a knowing look on her face.

I sighed and deflated, "I had a fight with Danny."

'I figured. Eric told me that Danny took you home the other night. What happened?"

"Yelling, screaming, accusations. The usual. But you know the strangest thing… I think I hurt his feelings?"

"What'd you say?" Lana asked as she got up and grabbed a pack of Tim-Tams from the everlasting stash in my fridge.

I grimaced in memory, "something about not wanting to hear what he had to say and wanting to hate him for a while."

Lana looked at me, "ouch."

I sighed and played with the corner of my bedspread, "yeah. And now I cant get his hurt expression out of my mind. It's driving me insane."

"Maybe you should apologise to him," Lana suggested holding out the packet of Tim-Tams to me.

"Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the yelling in the first place?" I questioned as I took a Tim-Tam and bit into it.

"What was the purpose?" Lana questioned curiously, "did you really want to hurt him, or were you just blowing off steam? Because if it was the latter then I really think you should apologise and tell him you didn't mean it."

"Maybe," I replied quietly.

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_McFly are…_

I paused thoughtfully, and waited patiently for a sentence to spring to mind… nothing did. I sighed heavily and scribbled out the line.

_With the release of their new album, McFly are…_

I scribbled out that line too.

_Amber Blair is horribly bias and cannot possibly write an appropriate media release…_

I scribbled out that line so forcefully that my pencil tore through the paper. I groaned in annoyance and leant back into my chair before glaring at the little post it that was stuck to my computer. It read …MEDIA RELEASE – 5PM DEADLINE.

I glanced quickly at my watch before standing up and hurrying through the office.

"I'm going to miss a deadline!" I yelled helplessly as I burst into Lana's office. "I've never missed a deadline! My reputation is sinking before my eyes. I swear Lana, do you know how hard I've been working since university to earn this reputation! And now I'm going to be the girl who misses deadlines!"

Lana looked up at me in shock, "Amber calm down."

"I can't calm down!" I shrieked as I paced across her office, "I'm going crazy. I can't think, I can't write, and to make things ten times worse I've eaten my weight in Tim-Tam's so now I'm going to be fat tomorrow!"

After I finished ranting, I stared wild-eyed at Lana who had the most peculiar look on her face. It was almost as though she was trying not to laugh.

"Its not funny!" I yelled.

"It's a little funny," Lana grinned.

I was just opening my mouth to continue yelling, when my assistant Julie poked her head around the door.

"Are you ok Amber? I heard yelling."

I blinked. I was going to miss a deadline, and I was caught yelling in a respectable company building. All this craziness was going to end now. "I'm fine," I informed her, "get me Danny Jones's new address."

"What?" Lana asked, the smile disappearing from her face, "Amber are you crazy? What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, but I have exactly…" I glanced at my watch, "an hour and a half until my deadline. In that time I can go to Danny's, sort this all out once and for all, and then I can come back here and write without wanting to kill something every time I see his name in print."

I turned and hurried out of the office.

"What are you going to say to him?" Lana asked as she hurried after me.

"I don't know."

"Wouldn't it be better just to call him?"

"Absolutely not."

"Amber, I think you should sit down and think about this for a while."

"No time."

"But…"

"Lana," I cut her off, as I reached my desk and pulled on my jacket, "don't worry. I'm fine. I need to do this."

Lana frowned, "well… ok… just don't do anything you'll regret later."

I smiled, "oh you don't have to worry about that. I'll most defiantly do something I regret."

Lana frowned and was going to reply but was cut off when Julie approached my desk. "Ok, the address is 101 Willow Street. Do you want me to write it down for you?"

I was already halfway out of the office, "no I'll remember," I called over my shoulder.

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I was running on autopilot as I stormed out of the office, and flagged down a taxi. I didn't know exactly what I was doing, and I had no idea what I was going to say… all I knew was that laying eyes on Danny would result in myself being able to finish my press release and get it off to the printers before 5pm.

I fidgeted nervously in the back seat as a million thoughts raced through my mind. What would I say to him? How would be look? What would he think about me just showing up at his house… a house, which was in a location that I wasn't technically supposed to know about.

I grimaced, and stared out the window, watching as the city faded away and changed into the suburbs. The grass was greener, the houses were larger and the air almost seemed crisper.

All of a sudden the taxi began to slow down.

"Here we are miss," the taxi driver remarked, as he pulled up in front of a modern looking house that looked as though it had just been built.

I let out a deep breath and stuffed some bills into the driver's hand, "thanks."

I was inexplicably nervous as I walked up the short driveway to the front door. I fiddled with the edge of my blazer, as a million opening lines ran through my mind.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to decide on one before my hand was knocking on his front door.

My heart was beating erratically as I waited for him to answer, and when he finally did, my heart nearly flew right out of my chest at the sight of him.

We stared at each other for what felt like hours, but in reality was probably only for a few seconds. Danny looked shocked beyond all belief that I was standing there in front of him, and to be completely honest, I was surprised by my actions as well. It was at that moment that I realised exactly how important my career was to me, and how far I was willing to go to stay at the top.

"Amber," Danny finally breathed, his eyes searching my face for answers, "what are you doing here?"

I struggled to formulate an answer in my brain, but I couldn't think of one. It briefly crossed my mind to start ranting about deadlines and Tim-tams and fat days… but somehow I thought that would confuse Danny even more than he already was.

So instead I did the only thing that came to mind. I launched myself forward, threw my arms around him and crashed my lips to his.

I don't know who was more shocked by my actions. Danny or myself.

By this stage I was considering checking myself into therapy, and I was pretty sure that Danny's thoughts were on the same wavelength. His lips were slack with shock, and I could feel his entire body tense as I fell into his arms with such a force that he stumbled a few steps backwards.

It was awkward and spontaneous, and I was just considering running away and throwing myself off the nearest cliff, when suddenly Danny came to life in my arms. His arms came around me, his lips were suddenly responding under mine, and his entire frame relaxed into my embrace as he pulled me so close that I swear I was about to fall into his skin.

And then, just like that, everything was exactly like old times.

Before I could figure out what was happening, he was walking me backwards into his house and we were stumbling into the couch. My mind was hazy with lust as I pushed his jacket off his shoulders, and I was so caught up in the feelings he was creating inside me that I couldn't concentrate on anything except how good he felt under my hands, and how his warmth had managed to defrost me for the first time in six months.

The passion in his kisses surprised me, it was almost as though I was water and he was dying of thirst.

I sighed in pleasure as his lips trailed down my neck, at the same time as his hand trailed up my side, and under my blouse before running across the warm skin of my stomach.

I froze. The haze left my mind and I was suddenly very aware of what I was doing and whom I was doing it with. I wrenched my lips away from Danny's and stared at him in shock. His hair was horribly mussed, and his eyes were bright and shining. I hated myself for creating that look, and I hated myself even more for my complete and utter lack of willpower.

"I need to go," I breathed desperately, my breath coming out in short pants.

"What?" Danny asked in confusion, "no. I…"

"I have a deadline," I continued as I pushed him off me and got unsteadily to my feet. My hands were shaking as I attempted to re-button my blouse.

Taking pity on me, Danny seized my shaking hands and pushed them away gently, before doing up the buttons for me. "We need to talk…"

I cut him off with a shake of my head, "I need to go."

Then without another word I turned and practically ran out of his house.

It wasn't until I was back in my office, had completed my press release that I realised the huge mistake I had made.

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To be continued...

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	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Good morning lassie."

I smiled tiredly as I stepped into the foyer of Muscrove Apartments, "good morning Lewis," I greeted my landlord.

"You look a bit worn out lass, are you taking care of yourself?"

I dropped my bags onto the floor and stepped up to the reception counter, "of course I am. I've just had a bad week that's all."

Lewis smiled kindly, "what happened?"

I groaned, "I've had a few confrontations with Danny Jones. Do you remember him?"

"Of course. The young lad who sold room 302."

I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, "That's the one. I'm doing publicity for his band, and the big press junket I've organised starts today, which means a couple of intense weeks in his presence." I paused and frowned, "its just a recipe for disaster."

Lewis looked utterly confused. "But I thought you two always got along so well?"

I smiled sadly, "we did. But then there was six months of blonds, and a fight, and a kiss I regret and…" I trailed off and glanced at Lewis awkwardly, "and you are the complete wrong person to be telling this too."

Lewis smiled at my embarrassment, "so how is the young fellow next door to you settling in."

I sighed gratefully at his quick change of topic. "I don't know. I haven't seen him around much."

"Well make sure you say hello from time to time," Lewis urged me, "he keeps to himself that one. I don't know what on earth he does in his apartment, but he always pays rent on time so it must pay well…" Lewis's musings were cut off by a loud honk, "there's your taxi. Have a good day."

"You too," I replied, as I picked up my bags from the floor and hurried out to the impatiently waiting taxi.

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Half an hour later, I was hurrying around a small conference room (notebook in hand), with about half a dozen people of varied importance trailing after me as they attempted to meet all my demands.

"Can we adjust the lighting? It's too dull. And have you triple checked the microphones? Because there's nothing worse than technical difficulties in a press conference. And I really want to speak to some of the journalists before this starts, because if one of them brings up Lindsay Lohan and Harry then I swear I'll…"

"Amber, don't worry, everything is under control," Julie assured me.

I nodded, "good. Are the boys here yet?"

Julie nodded, "they arrived five minutes ago."

"And the journalists?"

"In the foyer. The catering is perfect."

I let out a deep breath and smiled, "I love it when everything goes my way. In fifteen minutes head into the foyer and invite the journalists to come and take their seats," I told her, "and don't forget the press packs."

"Its all taken care of Amber," Julie told me as she dismissed the crowd of workers around us.

"Good. Then all that's left is for me to…" I trailed off and glanced at the door that lead to where the boys were waiting, "trip over that chair, break my leg and be taken to hospital."

Julie looked at me in confusion.

I shrugged, "its probably a better scenario then what's waiting for me in that room."

"Are you always this dramatic," Julie questioned as she took my folder from my arms and handed me a new one with all the information I was to brief the boys on.

"Always," I replied with a grin.

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It was the single most uncomfortable moment of my life, I decided, as I stepped into the room and all eyes flew towards me. I paused in the doorway and raised an eyebrow, "no need to stop what you're all doing on my account."

Silence.

I cringed at the awkwardness in the air, and avoided looking at Danny, before muttering darkly under my breath. I made the conscious decision to ignore every ounce of strangeness, and let my professional demeanour take over.

"Alright, so in about ten minutes that room out there is going to be flooded with journalists. I've managed to get every critic worth knowing out there, so if you guys just focus on the album then everything should be fine…" I trailed off and stared in confusion at Dougie's shirt. The explicit message across the front was far from appropriate. "Bloody hell, you're not going to wear that shirt are you?"

Dougie glanced down at himself, "what's wrong with it?"

"I don't have enough time to tell you what's wrong with it," I replied, "do you have another one?"

He shook his head.

"You let him leave the house like that?" I accused Tom.

Tom's mouth dropped open, utterly bewildered that he was being told off for Dougie's fashion choices, "you can't be serious Amber."

"Yeah. I like this shirt," Dougie put in.

"It has a picture of a penis on it," Harry pointed out.

"So?"

"So, a bazillion photographers can't print your photo in teen magazines when you have a penis on your chest."

"It's a statement."

"Its porn."

As the boys argued I pulled out my mobile and arranged another shirt to be delivered. Once that was taken care of I turned my attention back to the boys. By this stage Dougie had been tackled to the ground and Tom and Harry were both attempting to tear the t-shirt off him.

Danny, on the other hand, was sitting on the couch, not paying the least amount of attention to the scuffle. Instead he was staring out the window, a small frown marring his features.

I decided to ignore his strange mood for the moment and instead watched the strange scene in front of me for a few moments before common sense kicked in. "Hey," I interfered. "Stop. That's a nice shirt. It's just not appropriate for… OI!!"

My voice echoed around the room, and Tom, Harry and Dougie glanced at me curiously.

I waved my arms at them, "get off the floor. You guys are going to give me a heart attack."

Just as I was about to have a meltdown, Julie poked her head around the doorframe. "Amber, everyone is settled and ready to go."

"Has a shirt arrived?"

Julie looked at me as though I were crazy, "what?"

It was at that moment that I realised why Julie was an assistant, and not higher up the ranks. She still hadn't comprehended the fact that public relations was an industry that practically invented them term 'strange requests'.

A lady I recognised as being in charge of the venue appeared at Julie's side, "I have a t-shirt here?"

I took it from her and tossed it at Dougie. It hit him in the chest. "Get changed."

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Five minutes later I was sitting in the back of the conference hall, shamelessly looking at Danny as I sipped from a large thermos of coffee.

I hated to admit it but I was worried. He looked horribly distracted, and he was still frowning as he took his seat at the long table in front of the journalists. I knew his frown was because of me. I had barely even looked in his direction, much less spoke to him since the _incident. _That had to be confusing on his part.

Lets see… first we were neighbours, then we were together, then he left for six months and didn't call, and instead dated every blond in the London area. Then he came back, and we fought, and I'm mad, and then we kiss, and now I'm avoiding him.

It sounded bizarre even to my own mind.

I sighed and struggled to get my mind back on the task at hand. As soon as this press conference was over, I would sort things out with him I promised myself, before turning my attention back to the conference and listening carefully as the journalists fired questions at the boys.

It was only after a few questions that I started to notice an odd trend. Not only was Danny frowning, but he was also answering questions with one-word answers.

I sat up a little straighter and frowned, watching as Tom shot Danny a confused look.

I watched and listened carefully as Danny avoided a question all together, before slumping down into his seat and shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

After he successfully avoided a few more questions, I slumped down into my own seat and mirrored his stance. "Karmas a bitch," I muttered under my breath before pulling out my ledger and immediately starting a plan of how to smooth this most recent development over with the press.

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By the end of the interview I was nearly ripping my hair out with frustration. What in the world was he playing at? Didn't he know how many respectable people from the music industry were in the audience? What was he thinking?

Those questions all added themselves to; where in the hell were you for six months? Why did you sell your apartment? Why didn't you call? What do you want from me?

I was so worked up by the time the room had started to clear that my hands were shaking.

So, as soon as the room was cleared, my body was automatically acting on its own accord. Unable to help myself I was getting to my feet and storming over to where he was standing, staring at his shoes as Tom spoke quietly to him.

"Excuse me," I said quickly, as I grabbed Danny's wrist and pulled him aside. "Look," I whispered harshly as soon as we were out of hearing range, "I can understand Dougie being quiet throughout an interview, but what in the hell are you doing?"

Danny shoved his hands into his pockets and remained quiet.

I was seething, "do you have any idea how many critics were in this room?" I demanded, "amazing critics who could make or break your album? What in the world are you trying to achieve?"

"I'm trying to get your attention," Danny admitted, finally lifting his blue eyes to meet mine,

"My attention!" I shrieked, "well congratulations, you have it. Now why don't you just get whatever you have to say off your chest?"

"I love you," Danny blurted.

I was stunned. Of all the things he could say to me that was the last thing I had expected. I stared at him in some level of shock for a few moments before I blurted, "Are you nuts?"

Danny blinked, "what?"

I ran a hand through my hair in annoyance, "why would you say that to me?"

"I…"

I shook my head, "you don't love me. Bloody hell…" I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache coming on.

"You don't know what I'm feeling," Danny informed me; his eyes so determined that I almost believed him.

Instead I laughed bitterly, "yeah but you see, as far as I'm concerned the words 'I love you' are used way to commonly in today's society."

Danny frowned in confusion, "what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that words don't mean anything." I shouted at him, "I'm saying that actions speak way louder than words ever will. And forgive me for saying so Danny, but your actions haven't been shouting that you love me."

"That's not fair," Danny murmured.

"Not fair?" I questioned in disbelief, "If you love me so much then why didn't you ever call me in the six months you were gone? Why did you sell your apartment? Why did you date so many people? Why in the world did you make so many promises that you never had any intention of keeping?"

"I did have every intention of keeping them," Danny insisted, his eyes wide. "I did Amber, I promise you."

"Then why didn't you keep them?" I demanded.

Silence. My question hung between us like a cloud hangs in the sky. This was it, the infamous question, and the soon to be infamous answer.

Danny stared at me for several long moments, eyes trailing over my face, before sighing heavily and closing his eyes. "I can't tell you."

I blinked, stunned. Of all the answers in the world that he could have given me, and of all the excuses he could have made up, I found this one so incredibly inadequate that I was shocked speechless.

After a few moments of mouthing soundlessly I managed to find my voice, "what?"

"I'm sorry," Danny whispered, "but I can't tell you. Not right now."

"Not right now?" I repeated, "You can't be serious?"

"Amber please," Danny begged reaching out and grabbing my upper arms, "just let me apologise, and accept my apology. Things don't have to be this way between us."

"How can I accept your apology when I don't have any reasons to accept it?" I whispered.

"You have to trust me," Danny replied, in an equally quiet voice.

"Trust?" I breathed, "you can't ask for trust. You have to earn it." I stepped away from his grasp, "I have work to do," I told him, before walking off.

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To be continued...

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	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

My feet were killing me, and I was ready to fall into bed and sleep for a week by the time Friday afternoon came around.

A turtle could have beaten me as I shuffled down the hallway towards my apartment. I refused to move any faster then was completely necessary considering my feet were killing me and I was just about ready to fall into bed and sleep for a week.

As I rounded the corner, I raised an eyebrow in confusion when I noticed Jay sprawled out in the hallway. "What are you doing?"

He looked up and smiled at me, "hey there Jack, how are you?"

Jack? Did he just call me Jack?

I frowned in confusion before realisation flooded me, "oh my god, you're never going to let me live down my choice of reading material are you?"

"Probably not anytime soon, no."

"What are you doing out here?" I questioned, as I came to a halt and leaned against the wall.

"A very demanding woman has taken over my room," he answered with a grimace.

"Girlfriend?"

Jay rolled his eyes, "mother."

"Ah," I breathed in realisation.

"She claims I live in a pigsty."

I smiled, "well I'm sure she's overreacting."

"Actually she's probably not far off the mark," Jay corrected, "but its not mess. Its organised chaos."

I grinned, "of course it is."

Jay shifted his position, "How was work?"

I pondered the question, "it was…" I trailed off. "Have you ever had to be in close proximity to an ex?"

Jay nodded.

"Well my day was something like that."

"Torturous and awkward with a lot of unresolved sexual tension going on?"

I nodded, "yeah something like that… But I don't know about the sexual tension."

"Its definitely there. I mean think about it. You're with a person for any given period of time, so you spend a lot of time thinking about them and being with them. And then you break up… where does all that love and affection go? It doesn't just disappear you know?"

I wrinkled my nose, "I don't know if I like the sound of that."

A crash came from Jay's room and he grimaced, "yeah well I don't like the sound of my mum in my room either. But that's life."

I chuckled and pushed myself away from the wall, "yeah well, tell your mum I say hello ok? I'm going to go fall into bed and sleep for a week."

I started my slow shuffle towards my apartment door.

Jay watched my progress for several moments. "If you don't hurry up you'll be walking for a week."

"Shut up you."

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An hour later, my conversation with Jay was still running around in my brain.

My original idea for the afternoon was to stumble into my apartment and sleep for a week, but instead, I found myself sipping coffee and eating Tim-tams while I scribbled my random thoughts haphazardly into my diary.

When I reached the end of the page I closed my notebook with a snap and pulled on a jacket before I stepped out onto my balcony.

The late afternoon winter air hit me like a bucket of cold water being dumped over my head and I crossed my arms across my chest before wandering over to the far right of my balcony.

"Jay!" I bellowed abruptly, breaking the deathly silence that surrounded Muscrove Apartments, "are you in there?"

It took a few moments, but finally a bewildered face came into view. "You know you could of just walked the two meters to my apartment door, Jack." Jay told me as he stepped onto his balcony and pulled a jumper on over his head.

"I didn't know if your mum was still there," I admitted with a sheepish grin, "and I'm sorry, but I don't want to be kicked out of my apartment while she cleans my fridge which probably hasn't been cleaned since I first moved in."

Jay wrinkled his nose, "ok that was a bit too much information. What's up?"

"I need to pick your brain."

"Pick my brain?" Jay repeated as he crossed his balcony towards me and leant against the railings two foot from my own, "I'm intrigued."

"Tell me more about this 'when you break up where does all the affection go' thing," I said leaning on my balcony railing comfortably.

Jay shrugged, "there's not really a lot to tell. It's just a thought. What do you want to know?"

I pondered the question, "do you think that when people break up, and then get back together, that it has something to do with the fact that the passion never really went anywhere?"

"Sure," Jay agreed, "I mean think about it. People usually break up because something crappy happened; like cheating or an argument. But after a while, when they can't really remember why they're mad, then things just go back to the way they were."

I frowned, "but some relationships can't be fixed right?"

Jay shrugged, "I guess. But for love to turn into hate? That would have to be a pretty big thing to go wrong don't you think?"

"What about those couples who break up and date other people? Do you reckon they'll ever get back together?"

"I'm not Doctor Phil, Jack."

I grinned, "I know, I just want your opinion."

"Well…" Jay began slowly, "I guess it depends on whether or not they find someone to take over you know."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning," Jay began, "that, say your dating a guy, and you break up, and you figure it's a permanent break up, so you go out and date a few guys. Then you find a guy you really like, and suddenly you wake up one day and realise that you haven't thought about ex-boyfriend in months, because you've replaced him with your new boyfriend. Am I making sense?"

I nodded thoughtfully, "perfect sense."

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By Saturday night I was positively buzzing with suppressed energy as I hurried around my apartment attempting to juggle as many activities as possible.

"Lana my beautiful engaged friend, how much do you love me?"

On the other end of the phone Lana laughed, "what do you need Amber?"

I grinned as I hoped around my apartment, attempting to get my shoes on, "I'm on a mission, and this mission requires a very long night on the town with a very short dress and plenty of cocktails. Are you intrigued?"

"I'm very intrigued. Especially since you seem to be following the workaholic path recently. This is a nice change."

I paused my search for my handbag and frowned, "it hasn't been that long since I've been out."

"My wedding engagement was the last time. And that was two months ago." Lana told me, "and besides, that shouldn't even count because we didn't go out."

I resumed my search, "yeah well, I've decided that all this sitting around isn't working for me. I need some new blood in my life."

"On a mission to find a date to my wedding?"

I grinned, and got down on my knees to look under my bed, "have you even set a date yet?"

"Not yet."

'Then I don't think I'll have to worry about that for a while," I replied as I located my handbag and immediately began stuffing my essentials inside it, "anyway, point of phone call being, do you want to come out with me tonight or not?"

"You know I do."

"Excellent." I hurried over to my mirror and fixed my hair, "invite everyone you know and tell them to meet us at Livid at eleven. Ok?"

"You're bossy when you're on a mission."

"Goodbye Lana."

I clicked my mobile closed without waiting for a reply before slipping into my little black dress, and hurrying out of my apartment. I tottered down the hallway and knocked loudly on Jay's door.

There was loud crashing from inside and I raised my eyebrow in amusement when loud cursing followed. A few moments later Jay opened the door, his hair horribly mussed with paint smears all over his face and shirt.

I looked at him curiously, "I'm sorry, am I interrupting some horribly kinky sex encounter involving paint?"

"Ha ha," Jay replied dryly. He opened his door further and gestured me inside, "come on in. You look nice."

"Thank you." I stepped into his apartment and looked around curiously. I hadn't been within this room since Danny left, and part of me expected to have a huge wave of memories wash over me. But they didn't… because there was not one ounce of similarity between Danny's apartment and Jay's apartment… other than the fact that the walls were the same colour.

Danny's apartment had always seemed a bit un-lived in because his apartment was so incredibly basic. He had a fridge, and a bed and every other necessity he needed, but other than that, it had always looked a bit like a motel room.

Jay's apartment was the complete opposite.

It wasn't that Jay's apartment was messy… not at all… it just had so much "stuff" in it. His book and CD collections were seemingly endless. They filled two entire bookshelves and were stacked around the room at random intervals. His entertainment system took up an entire wall, and in front of it stood a canvas with an abstract painting half finished. His walls were filled with posters and photo frames, every surface was covered with nick-knacks, except for the coffee table, which was almost unrecognisable under an unorganised stack of magazines.

"Wow." I murmured simply as I looked around, "this is what I imagine the inside of my head would look like."

"Its organised chaos," Jay told me as he cleared a pile of clothes off a chair and gestured for me to sit.

I plopped down into it. "It was ambitious of your mum to try and clean."

Jay shrugged and picked up his easel, "that's her prerogative. She doesn't like clutter. Unfortunately for her, I'm a collector. I love clutter."

I looked around, "doesn't it completely overwhelm you sometimes?"

Jay looked at me and grinned, "I don't crave organization like you do. I like to have lots of possessions. The messier the better, it makes everything more cosy."

I pulled my feet up onto the chair and curled up comfortably.

"So what brings you here so dressed up?" Jay questioned.

"I'm heading out on the town tonight with a bunch of friends and was wondering if you wanted to join us?"

"Destination?"

"Livid. It's a new little club in the city. A friend of mine is doing their public relations and their opening is tonight, which means cutting the cue and plenty of free drinks. You in?"

Jay looked at me and nodded, "sure, why not."

I grinned and jumped to my feet, "excellent. Get dressed, we leave in fifteen."

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Have you ever had one of those moments where you have to make a split second decision, but you feel as though you could have mulled over the alternatives for hours?

By midnight that night, I was having one of those moments.

Livid was packed, the most recent music was thumping, the drinks were flowing, and I was feeling pretty amazing because I had four guys' numbers down my bra.

"What's a long island iced tea?" my assistant Julie asked as we examined our cocktail menus. After several rounds of shots, we all thought it was a good idea to move on to something a little less potent.

"It's only the best drink known to man," Jay told her. "I recommend it."

"Don't listen to him," Lana interrupted, "a long island iced tea is worse than all those shots we just had put together."

"So its decided," I grinned, my eyes sparkling with excitement, "we'll have a round of long island ice teas."

Lana made a face, "yuck."

I laughed and swivelled in my seat, sticking my hand in the air to get a bartenders attention. It was only when I had signalled the attention of a near by waiter and was turning back around when it happened.

I don't know how I managed to recognise him, considering the lighting was so low I could barely see Lana across the table. But there he was… Danny Jones… the one man in the world I couldn't seem to get away from.

"Omg," I groaned turning quickly in my seat and ducking my head before he could recognise me. "Lana you will not believe who is across the room."

Immediately catching on to my tone, Lana's mouth dropped open, "no."

"Yeah."

"No.

"Yes."

"Am I missing something here?" Jay asked from beside me.

"Amber's ex is here," Lana informed him.

"Danny is here?" Eric questioned sitting up in his seat and glancing across the club, "where?"

"The infamous ex?" Jay asked with a grin, "well where is he? I need to meet this guy."

I groaned at the boy's reactions.

Jay shoved me playfully, "oi lets go get drinks and then you can introduce me."

I whipped my head around to him, "what? Are you serious? No!"

"Then at least point him out to me."

I sunk down into my seat and attempted to look as invisible as possible as Lana and Eric pointed Danny out.

"He looks like that guy from that pop band."

"He is the guy from that pop band," Lana replied as she picked ice from her cup and ate it.

Jay looked at me in amusement, "aw Amber you were the envy of thirteen year old girls everywhere."

"Omg," I exclaimed in horror as I slid out of the booth in attempt to get as far away from this crazy situation as possible.

Jay laughed and followed me, "hey wait up, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Well I did, but I'm sure we can…"

'Amber!"

I grimaced, that voice sounded way too familiar.

I shot evil eyes at Jay before turning reluctantly to see Tom and Danny pushing through the crowd towards me.

"Kill me now," I pleaded with Jay.

He grinned in amusement at me. "I'll buy you a drink instead."

"Your useless to me," I muttered before forcing a polite smile, "hey. Tom, Danny, this is Jay. Jay, this is Tom and Danny, they're my current clients."

Tom extended a hand, "nice to meet you man."

"You too," Jay smiled shaking Tom's hand, "I've heard a lot about you guys." He extended his hand to Danny.

Danny met my eyes curiously before shaking Jay's hand, "so how do you guys know each other?"

"Oh we're dating," Jay replied.

I closed my eyes in horror.

"Really?" Tom asked, "That's great. I didn't know you were seeing anyone Amber."

I quickly weighed my options. I could set the record straight or I could play along with this strange little game. I instantly wished I could freeze time so I could think this out more thoroughly. I finally replied, "Yeah well, I don't really mix business with personal." I smiled awkwardly, "excuse us."

I grabbed Jay's hand and dragged him away. It was only when we were across the room I turned to him, "are you nuts?"

Jay laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "c'mon partner, I'll buy you a nice strong drink."

Five minutes later Jay and I were seated at the bar a round of empty shot glasses in front of us.

"Ya know that guy's still completely in love with you." Jay told me randomly.

I huffed, "what makes you say that?"

"You should have seen his reaction when I said we were dating," Jay replied passing a shot to me and downing his own. "What went on with you two?"

I rolled my eyes and downed my shot, 'I don't even want to talk about it. Its ancient history."

Jay shrugged, "whatever works for you. I'm going to the toilet. I'll be right back ok."

I lifted a hand in recognition, "I'll be here."

I was halfway through my next drink when Danny slid in next to me at the bar.

"So…" he began.

I glared at him, his entire demeanour just screamed drunk. "How many drinks have you had?"

He raised his bottle at me, "not nearly enough."

"What do you want Danny?"

He shrugged, "I just want to know how you've been."

"I've been great," I replied simply.

"And Don Juan, is he a nice guy?"

"His name is Jay. And he's wonderful."

Danny met my eyes, "wonderful huh?"

"Yes."

"So I guess you have a thing for next door neighbours…"

I glared at him, "stop it."

Danny looked at me innocently, "stop what?"

I downed the rest of my drink and got off my stool. "Jealousy doesn't suit you," I told him before storming off.

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To be continued...

I'm planning for this fiction to have about ten chapters... so never fear readers, the end is in sight... will Danny and Amber end up back together?

REVIEW!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

My mother once told me that shopping for a wedding dress is one of the most rewarding experiences of a young girls life. Trying on the beautiful gowns, having shop assistants fawn over you, selecting the most beautiful dress in the store and blowing everyone away with it.

My mother was clearly a liar because shopping for a wedding dress was turning out to be my worst nightmare.

So, I was dealing with the situation in the only way I knew how. By drinking the boutique's cheap wine… and lots of it.

I was just pouring the contents of my third glass down my throat when Lana stepped out of the dressing room adorned in a white wedding dress. It was gorgeous... like the other fifteen dresses she had tried on.

"What about this one?"

"Oh that's stunning," the shop assistant cooed as she urged Lana up onto the footstool. "The beading on the bodice is just lovely, you could find the most amazing pair of earrings to suit."

Lana looked at me, "what do you think?"

I surveyed the dress closely and attempted to form a helpful opinion. "It looks like the last one you tried on."

Lana sighed heavily and placed her hands on her hips, "c'mon Amber help me out here. As maid of honour you're supposed to make decisions for me when I'm completely lost."

"Lana I don't know a thing about wedding dresses." I replied honestly, as I took another glass of wine from the assistant, "I've only ever been to one wedding and it was such a disaster that we still talk about over Christmas dinner."

"Lost ring?" the shop assistant asked sympathetically.

"Lost groom," I corrected.

"You don't have to have experience," Lana cut in, "just tell me which wedding dress looks the nicest on me."

I shrugged, "I liked the first one."

"But it was so plain," Lana frowned.

"Traditional," I corrected.

"It had a bow," Lana reminded me.

I held my hands up in defence, "hey, you asked for my opinion. I gave it to you."

Lana paused thoughtfully, "the first one," she finally murmured, "really?"

I held my glass up to her in a silent toast, "just put the first one back on and put me out my misery."

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Ten minutes later Lana was examining her dress from all angels in the mirror. The shop assistant was hurrying around the store suggesting accessories, veils and tiaras, while I was happily consuming my weight in wine as I yelled into my phone attempting to re-schedule my afternoon with a particularly demanding media contact.

'No," I said for the tenth time, "I can't make the meeting this afternoon. How about tomorrow morning? No I can't today… this afternoon wont work… tomorrow morning… yes…" I sighed in relief when I hung up the phone, "people are particularly dense today."

"It happens from time to time," Lana murmured distractedly as she examined her reflection from over her shoulder, "I need a second opinion."

"Didn't you say the Eric was having his suit fitting today?" I questioned popping a mini quiche into my mouth and chewing thoughtfully.

Lana nodded and twisted further around to see the back of her dress, "yeah him and Danny are coming in."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise, "you failed to mention that."

Lana looked at me, "I didn't think it would be a big deal, I thought you and Danny were getting along fine now."

Getting along was a little optimistic. Over the past week we had developed a successful working relationship based on avoiding one another as much as possible.

I shrugged, "we have an unspoken agreement. Its fine. But I didn't mean that, I meant that you failed to mention that Danny was best man."

"Eric only just decided a few days ago. The same day we decided on the date," Lana grinned excitedly and bounced up and down, "June 1st. It has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"

I nodded, "152nd day of the year."

"How on earth did you know that?" asked a voice.

Lana and I both spun around to see Eric and Danny standing in the doorway to the dressing room.

I was just opening my mouth to reply to Eric's question when Lana shrieked and attempted to cover her dress with her arms, "Eric get out!" she yelled. "You can't see my dress before the wedding! Get out!"

I watched in amusement as Eric clapped his hands over his eyes. "I didn't see anything," he yelled as he backed out of the dressing room.

Once he was gone Lana relaxed and lowered her arms, "so Danny what do you seriously think of this dress? Too white?"

I passed him my glass of untouched wine, "you're going to need this."

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I muttered darkly and scowled at no one in particular as I tried to ignore the fact that I was standing on a footstool while some old lady pinned my lurid pink bridesmaid dress to the right length. I was in a horrible mood. Several hours of wedding dress shopping, my weight in cheap champagne, and my ex looking impossibly attractive in a tuxedo was clearly not a good combination for me.

"I'm ready to murder someone," I burst out suddenly.

"Kill me first," Danny, drawled from across the room where he was standing in a similar position to me having his pants taken up, "put me out of my misery."

"Any requests on how you wanna go?" I asked curiously.

"You got a gun?"

"Nope."

"Knife."

"No."

Danny paused thoughtfully, "poison?"

"I suppose nail polish remover might do. But I don't have it on me, we need something immediate."

"Maybe you could just hit me on the head a few times with Lana's shoe." Danny suggested.

Lana looked up at us in annoyance, "okay lets change the subject please. We can't talk about death while we're getting fitted for the wedding; we have to talk about something happy.

"Like happy hour?" Danny asked in amusement. He paused an added as an afterthought, "Speaking of happy hour, I'd love a beer right now. That'd be so good. What time is it anyways?"

"Its crying time," I replied sarcastically.

Lana rolled her eyes.

I glanced at the lady crouched at my feet, "excuse me, do you have any beer?"

Danny snorted with laughter across the room.

The lady looked up at me as though I were crazy. Maybe I was by this stage. "No we don't sorry, just champagne."

I shifted my weight and placed my hands on my hips, "alrighty then."

There was silent in the room for a few moments until Danny asked, "do you want to go get a beer once we're done here?"

I thought for several moments that he must have been talking to Lana, but when I looked up and met his eyes I realised I had been mistaken. My eyes widened slightly, "you and me?"

Danny shrugged, "yeah why not?"

I could think of at least five reasons off the top of my head. I frowned, what was he playing at? The two of us, together, in a room, drunk, with more alcohol to be consumed… That definitely couldn't be a good combination. Danny was still staring at me waiting for my decision and I finally reached the conclusion that I had nothing to lose, "ok."

Danny's eyebrows lifted ever so slightly, "really?" he asked in surprise.

I shrugged and repeated his earlier phrase, "why not?"

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It was quite possibly the single most uncomfortable moment of my young life. I sat at a rickety table trying not to fidget too much as we waited for our drinks. While I was almost jumping out of my skin, Danny on the other hand seemed as cool as a cucumber. He sat across from me, reclined back in his seat, the collar of his jacket propped up to shield his skin from the cool breeze that drifted through the windows. He didn't seem nervous at all, on the contrary he was watching me leisurely and my apparent nervousness seemed to amuse him.

"This is a little awkward right?" he finally said, his voice cutting through the silence like a knife.

I let out a deep breath I hadn't known that I was holding, "a little."

Danny surveyed me thoughtfully before making a brave stab at conversation, "so um, are you looking forward to the wedding?"

I clutched the familiar topic like a lifeline, "I was. But after that fitting I'm thinking I don't want anything to do with it. But I'm happy for Lana and Eric of course, and the wedding will be beautiful, but it all seems like a bit too much effort you know?" I was blabbing. I trailed off and cringed. "Ok, I take it back. This is really awkward."

Danny smiled at me and sat forward on his chair, resting his arms on the table, "look, I didn't ask you here to make you uncomfortable. I just thought we could hang out for a while. Sit and talk like old times despite…" Danny paused and wrinkled his nose, "everything else."

'What would be talk about?" I asked curiously.

Danny reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of crumpled paper. I watched curiously as he smoothed it out. "You made a list of topics?" I asked torn between amusement and flattery that he had gone to so much trouble.

Danny shrugged sheepishly, "yeah well our previous attempts at communication didn't really go all that well, so I'm thinking if we stick to safe topics we might get through these drinks alive." He looked at me from underneath his eyelashes to gage my reaction.

I smiled. And for the first time since Danny left it was actually a true smile, filled with happiness and amusement. "Alright, what's first on the list?"

Danny sat up straighter and flatted out his piece of paper, "ok, I've been wanting to ask you this for a while." He paused dramatically, "why in the hell do you go to the top of a tall building only to put money in the binoculars to look at things on the ground?"

I laughed. Some things never changed.

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To be continued!

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	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

I crossed one leg over the other and smoothed my skirt over my thighs before brushing an invisible piece of lint off my suit jacket, and tucking my hair behind my ears. I continued to fidget impatiently as Tom, Danny, Dougie, Harry and their management crowded around the conference table reading the first review of their CD.

Tom was the first to finish so I watched as he sat back in his chair looking thoughtful.

"Well?" I finally asked as my impatience reached its threshold, "what do you think?"

He nodded still looking thoughtful, "its good."

"Good?" I repeated in disbelief. I reached into my bag and slammed several dozen teen magazines onto the table. "May I remind you what kind of publicity and reviews you guys got for your last CD?" I flicked to a marked page and opened my mouth to begin reading when Tom interrupted me.

"Ok, ok," he laughed, "its great. Really Amber. This is an amazing music magazine to be featured in."

"The only downside is that Dougie is wearing his penis t-shirt," Danny observed pointing at the large picture that accompanied the review.

Harry glanced over his shoulder, "why did they use this picture anyway? It's candid. There must have been hundreds of professional photos taken at the conference."

He was of course talking about the infamous press conference where I had forced Dougie to change his shirt.

I shrugged, "it was a creative decision. The candid photo best reflected your CD. All the professional photos looked too…" I paused and searched for the correct term, "boy band like."

"We are a boy band," Danny told me.

I shook my head, "no you're a band with male members. Boy band sounds too Westlife or Backstreet Boys."

The guys looked lost.

I waved my hand in annoyance, "it was a public relations decision. Lets leave it at that. So do we like it? Can I get on the phone to the editor and approve the thing to go to print."

The guys murmured various states of agreement.

"Excellent. I'll send copies to you when it's released next week. Although hopefully we should get some advance copies," I trailed off thoughtfully making a mental note to check. "Well that's it. The press junket is over, your CD is being released onto the market this weekend, and the launch is Friday night. It's been a pleasure working with you all."

What followed this little pronouncement were sincere thanks from the boys, and about a half an hour of discussion with Fletch about the launch party and the entire press junket. By the time I finally got everyone out of the conference room it was five o'clock on the dot and I allowed a huge smile to cross my face inwardly congratulating myself on a job well done. As I stepped out of the conference room, loaded down with paperwork I was just deciding I would spend the evening lying in bed painting my toenails when I walked smack bang into Danny.

"Oh geez Amber I'm sorry," he apologised as he bent down and gathered my papers for me.

I rubbed my forehead absentmindedly, "that's ok. What are you still hanging around for? I thought you guys left ages ago."

"The other guys did," Danny replied as he stood up and transferred the papers into my arms, "I wanted to uh talk to you."

"Sure." I looked at him curiously.

Immediately a soft glow seemed to erupt in Danny's cheeks. I watched fascinated as he fidgeted for several moments.

"I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come to dinner with me sometime before the launch?" he finally questioned.

I blinked, "oh." This was unexpected. Although considering how successful our 'drinks' date had been I suppose I should have expected it. "Um." I shrugged, "alright then."

"Really?"

I nodded, "yeah, why not?"

Danny smiled, "alright. How about Thursday? I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Sounds good."

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"It's raining men!" I sang loudly, "hallelujah, its raining men, every special men."

It was late in the afternoon two days later and I was bustling around my apartment doing laundry and cleaning in the only way I knew how… by blaring some old fashioned music, putting on a baseball cap, and singing very loudly and off key into the feather duster.

"Tall blond dark and lean, rough and tough and strong and meeeeeeaaan!" I sang as I chucked a pile of laundry like a basketball into the hamper and danced around in a circle.

"God bless mother nature," I shouted, "she's a single woman too, she took over heaven, and she did what she had to do yeah!"

I was just opening my mouth to continue when I spotted Lana standing in my doorway grinning in amusement. I stopped singing immediately and paused the CD player. I lifted my chin and crossed my arms across my chest. "Can I help you Lana?"

Lana grinned at me from where she was standing in my doorway, "don't stop on my account, that was seriously the best entertainment I've had all day."

I rolled my eyes, "shut up."

She laughed, "its raining men!" she imitated with over exaggerated hand movements of rain falling from the ceiling.

I chucked a pillow at her, "you better be careful. If you keep going I'm going to embarrass you at your wedding by re-enacting the time you got drunk and did the chicken dance on the bar at Illusion."

Lana's mouth dropped open, "you wouldn't."

I immediately began a slow and dramatic re-enactment of Lana being pulled kicking and screaming off the bar by security.

"Alright, alright, alright," Lana laughed chucking the pillow back at me. "I'll keep your embarrassing secrets safe if you keep mine."

"You got yourself a deal," I agreed as I gathered a stack of paperwork off the floor and distributed it onto my desk, "so what brings you to Muscrove Apartments?"

"Oh you know," Lana replied lightly, "this, that."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

Lana grinned and plopped down onto my bed, "c'mon Amber, why do you think I'm here. I want to hear all about your date with Danny!"

"What date?" I asked curiously, even though I knew exactly what she was talking about.

Lana pointed at me, "don't play dumb with me Miss Blair. Danny mentioned it to me days ago."

"And you waited this long to come and see me?" I asked in surprise. I nodded, "I'm impressed."

Lana shrieked, "So it is true? You and Danny are dating again?"

I shook my head, "we're not dating. We're going on a date. Just one."

Lana waved her hand impatiently, "oh please, you two belong together. Everyone knows that."

"Yeah well I'm not so sure," I replied as I continued to tidy up my apartment, "I mean, I don't even think that…"

"Don't think," Lana interrupted, "you've done enough thinking about this whole situation." She watched my progress around the room, "I know you're a logical person and you like everything set out in stone, but maybe this is just one of those situations that's never going to make sense, no matter how much you think about it."

I pulled a stray hair from my pillow and frowned, "I just want to know where in the hell he was for six months."

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I was pretty sure my appearance resembled a mad woman. My eyes were glazed, my hair was a mess, and I couldn't find anything to wear.

I stormed across my apartment and banged on the wall over my bed that separated my room from Jay's. "Jay!" I yelled.

Silence.

"C'mon Jay I know you're in there. I'm about to have a heart attack here!"

"You are not," he called back.

"I don't have anything to wear," I whined, "can you come and pick something out for me?"

There was a clatter from next-door, footsteps down the hall, and the next thing I knew Jay had opened the door to my apartment and stepped inside as though he owned the place. I watched as he walked purposely across the room to my wardrobe, took one look at its bursting contents and looked at me in disbelief, "you're kidding right?"

I pouted, "don't let the amount of clothes fool you. I'm a quantity over quality girl."

Jay reached randomly into my wardrobe and pulled out a black dress, "how about this?"

I wrinkled my nose; "I bought that in the tenth grade."

"Then why do you still own it?"

"Sentimental reasons."

Jay raised an eyebrow and turned his attention back to my wardrobe, "what's the occasion?"

"A date?"

"Anyone I know?"

I sighed heavily, "yeah Danny Jones."

Jay looked at me in amusement, "the ex?"

"That's the one."

"Then what in the world are you so worried about?" Jay asked as he removed his attention from my wardrobe and plopped down onto my bed instead. "It isn't as though you've never dated the guy before.

I crossed my arms across my chest. "This is different."

"Why?"

I paced up and down my apartment before attempting to flatten my hair and sighing heavily. "Its kind of like…" I plopped down onto the edge of my bed and crossed my legs, "on the one hand it feels like Danny never left, and everything is just the same. But on the other, there's this six-month black hole between us that just won't go away." I bit at my fingernail, "its like those six months erased everything I thought I knew. So now we kind of just have to start all over again."

"And you want to right?" Jay questioned, "Start all over again?"

I frowned and shook my head, "no. I just want to know where in the hell he was for six months. I don't want to start anything until that question is answered." I bounced back to my feet and resumed pacing, "maybe once I understand what happened we'll be able to pick up where we left off."

Jay shrugged, "or maybe you'll just want to slap him and never lay eyes on him again."

I paused thoughtfully and nodded, "maybe." I resumed pacing, "but none of those really matters right now. I just need something to wear. Something nice. That way if all the shit hits the fan…" I grinned, "at least I looked damn good while it happened."

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To be continued...

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**Authors Note:** I think at some stage I said that this story would have 10 chapters... but now that I've reached 9, I think that there will probably be 12 or 13.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

I placed my hands on my hips and watched in a mixture of horror and amusement as a long black limousine pulled up to the curb of Muscrove Apartments.

"Omg," I groaned in horror.

My landlord Lewis leant over the reception counter to have a good look through the window, "well at least he's taking it seriously."

My horror grew as Danny hoped out of the sleek car looking utterly gorgeous. I grimaced and turned to Lewis, "is it too late to cancel?"

Lewis grinned at me, "you may be cutting it a little short."

"What if I break my leg?" I asked desperately.

"Too late," Lewis murmured, and I turned around to see Danny push open the door to the foyer.

It crossed my mind briefly to turn and bolt back upstairs. Run away from him, and how good he looked, and this whole awkward situation between us. But my feet remained stubbornly frozen to the floor.

Danny's eyes met mine and he smiled at me. I attempted to smile back. I hope it resembled a smile and not a grimace.

"You might want to try a bit harder," Lewis muttered to me.

I took my eyes off Danny and glared at Lewis. He smiled innocently at me and then oh so subtly left the room winking at me on the way out.

I took a deep breath and turned my attention back to Danny who was less than a meter away from me now. I was just opening my mouth to give him a piece of my mind about the limousine when he produced a lone flower from behind his back.

The words died in my throat as I looked at the beautiful pink hibiscus. Only Danny could remember something as petty as my favourite flower which I had probably only mentioned once or twice in passing over the entire time I had known him.

"Hey," Danny murmured softly, his eyes seeking mine to gage my reaction.

I reached out and took the flower gently, my fingers brushing oh so softly against his, "you remembered," I murmured back. I was oddly touched by the gesture.

"Of course," Danny replied with a grin, "how could I forget?" Danny paused and waited for me to look up. When I didn't he warned, "please don't get girly on me."

I chuckled and met his eyes, "I wont, don't worry."

"Ready to go then?"

I nodded, "sure."

He offered me his arm and I hesitated momentarily before tucking my hand into his elbow. "Remind me to yell at you later about the limousine," I told him as he held the door open for me and we stepped onto the sidewalk.

Danny laughed, "I was wondering when you were going to bring that up." He opened the limousine door and gestured me inside, "don't kick up a fuss Amber. Just get in the car."

I scowled at him and did what I was told.

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The restaurant he took me to was ridiculously expensive. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I opened the menu and saw the prices, and my regular work salary wasn't exactly small. But I wisely kept my mouth shut. Besides, Danny seemed ridiculously content to be there and also to have me as company, so I decided to humour him and then kick his arse later.

The problem with expensive restaurants was that their menu's always seemed to be comprised of foods that I had never heard of before.

"Do you have any idea what any of this food is?" I asked.

Danny was examining his menu with a frown on his face, "I have no idea. Lets just make it up ok? When in doubt just pretend it all means salad and chips."

I laughed, "I don't think they'd sell chips in a place like this but ok."

"Salad and salad?"

"That sounds more appropriate," I nodded as my eyes drifted around the fancy interior of the restaurant. It was absolutely beautiful… but I was far to distracted by the man in front of me and the secrets that he had to reveal to truly appreciate it.

The waitress approached us, "are you ready to order yet?"

"I'll have what she's having," Danny jumped in quickly.

My mouth dropped and Danny grinned at me in amusement. I squinted at the menu attempting to find a dish that I could pronounce. Giving up I finally just snapped my menu closed and smiled politely at the hostess, "we'll have whatever you recommend."

Across the table Danny was desperately trying to keep his face neutral, "and a bottle of your best wine," he added his voice breaking slightly at the end with laughter.

"And keep it coming," I finished with a smile.

The hostess nodded and walked away probably thinking we were both crazy.

"How classy are we," Danny said sarcastically once she was gone, "we should have just gone to a pub."

I grinned, "yeah well maybe next time."

Danny raised an eyebrow, "so there will be a next time?"

"Well…" I murmured slowly leaning across the table and meeting his eyes, "I have a few questions you have to answer before we get too far ahead of ourselves."

Danny immediately caught on to my train of thought. He frowned and leant back in his chair, "oh."

I smiled softly, "yeah."

He was silent for a few moments, eyes running over my face. Finally he pouted, "really?"

I grinned, "yep."

"Now?"

I shrugged, "no need to rush, we have all night."

Danny frowned, "yeah and now it's going to bother me all night."

"I don't mind if you get it off your chest now," I replied.

Danny stared at me for a long time. So long that I was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable under his gaze. But finally he sighed heavily and looked away, "Ok, where do I begin?"

"The beginning is always a nice place to start," I assured him.

"Do you want the long or the short version?" Danny asked shuffling in his seat uncomfortably.

"Give me the short version," I answered. That way if the news was bad then I could skip out of here before the awful unknown dinner arrived.

Danny shuffled again and looked everywhere but me.

Knowing what was coming I held my breath nervously. This was it. The answer I had been waiting for… the missing piece of the puzzle that I had been lingering over for the past several months. My mind was working a mile a minute trying to pre-empt his answer. Was it good was it bad? Would it make me laugh, would it make me cry, would it…

"I was scared."

…Disappoint me entirely.

I blinked several times and stared at Danny until he finally stopped looking at the fountain in the corner and looked at me. "Wow," I said dryly, "I got to admit after all this time I was thinking that your answer was going to be so much more exciting than that."

Danny sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes, "maybe the long answer is necessary."

I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms across my chest, "maybe..."

Danny rested his elbows on the table and leant forward, "look," he began quietly, "the six months that we spent together were… amazing. Ok? I had such a good time with you, and enjoyed being with you and living next door to you and…" Danny trailed off and sighed, "but when I left you, when I got on the tour bus and started touring, it was like coming back to reality. Muscrove Apartments has never been a home to me, not until I met you. It was always just somewhere I crashed in between touring or recording. But for the first time, I really felt at home there." Danny rubbed his hand across his face, "so when I left. It got to a point where it felt like it had all been a dream."

I frowned and looked at the window. Somehow I knew exactly where this conversation was going.

"You've got to understand Amber, I've never been with anyone like you before. You weren't with me because I was Danny Jones, that guy from McFly. You were with me because…" he paused and chuckled, "well I don't know exactly why you were with me. But the point is, that when I left I was terrified that it was all too good to be true. I was positive I was going to come back and you would have moved on to someone else and then I'd be stuck right back where I started."

I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath, "you could of called Danny. If you were so freaked out we could have talked about it."

Danny smiled softly, "yeah well I kind of convinced myself somewhere along the way that I wasn't good enough for you. I mean, what could I possibly give you? You deserve someone whose going to be there all the time, not someone who takes off every few weeks for months at a time. What kind of a relationship is that?"

'I never cared about how much you travel Danny…"

"I know that. Look. I can't make any excuses for what happened ok? What's done is done. But I will say that I'm sorry. It was stupid of me not to call and fill you in on my freak out."

I rested my chin on my hand and sighed, "yeah well, I guess I can say apology accepted."

It was at that moment that our food and wine appeared. Danny and I both ignored our scary looking food completely and instead broke into the wine. I think we both needed it. Especially me, considering I found myself more confused after his explanation than I was before.

"So," Danny murmured, once we had both taken sips of our drinks, "where do we go from here?"

I ignored his question and asked one of my own, "Why'd you move out of Muscrove Apartments?"

Danny shrugged his shoulders slightly, "I figured that after my six months of escapades I was pretty much the last person you'd ever want to see again."

"That sounds about right," I murmured so softly I didn't know whether or not he heard me.

Danny reached out and trailed a finger across the hand that was clasped around my wine glass, "despite everything else," he murmured softly, "you look beautiful tonight."

I watched his hand caress mine, "thanks."

Danny dropped his hand and met my eyes. "I did learn something from my time being the worlds biggest arse."

I smiled softly at his choice of words, "yeah? What's that?"

Danny's eyes met mine across the table and he held them, "that I really do love you," he murmured. "I know you didn't believe me when I said it before. Maybe it wasn't the right time. But I do."

I could have sworn my heart stopped for a second.

"And I don't want to be away from you anymore," Danny continued as he reached out and twined his fingers through mine, "I'd really like it if we could maybe start over. If you want to. If not, then I understand completely."

I was speechless. It was a strange sensation considering it didn't happen all that often. I just started at him with wide eyes, as I struggled to form a response in my stunned brain.

"You don't have to say anything," Danny smiled when he realised I was stuck. "Its alright. We have all night."

My mind was working overtime, each thought forming and disappearing faster than I could comprehend. I finally pushed all those thoughts out of my mine and smiled softly at him. "Lets just enjoy the rest of the evening ok? I can figure out mu muddled up feelings over night."

Danny smiled at me, "that's all I ask for."

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To be continued...

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Should Amber take Danny back? Or tell him to go to hell?


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

The weather was crisp and fresh when Danny and I pulled up back at Muscrove Apartments several hours later. We both walked in silence up the sidewalk and into the foyer.

"I had a good time tonight," Danny told me as we stopped at some point along the darkened hallway to say goodnight.

My mind was working furiously. I had a request, and I wasn't sure if it was a sensible one. But maybe Lana was right, maybe I had done enough thinking, maybe it was just time to go with my gut. "Do you want to come up?" I blurted.

Danny looked at me in surprise. I could tell that my question was the very last one he had ever expected to hear. I watched him quietly as a range of emotions flew across his face. He clenched his jaw and shoved his hands deep into his pockets before he shook his head stubbornly, "I don't think that's a very good idea right now."

I knew exactly where he was coming from. I think we both needed to take things slow to get used to one another's presence in a non-hostile way.

"No funny business," I assured him. "Strictly platonic. I'll make you a coffee and we'll eat Tim-Tam's and talk about the weather."

Danny pondered over my suggestion, "the weather?" he confirmed.

I nodded, "yeah. Ya know it has been strangely sunny lately."

Danny smiled at me before shrugging, "ok. I guess we can talk about the weather."

I smiled, "great." I gestured to the stairs, "after you."

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The packet of Tim-Tams I had opened was long gone; as was the bottle of wine I had fished from the depths of my fridge. Danny's suit jacket was lying somewhere in my dishevelled apartment, and we had both retreated onto my balcony with another bottle of wine. It was a beautiful night, or morning… I had lost track of time.

"What are you getting Lana and Eric for a wedding present?" Danny asked as he opened a packet of chips and tipped them into the bowl I had discovered in my pantry.

I pulled my feet onto the chair and bit into a chip, "I have no idea. A million different ideas have run through my mind but…" I shrugged, "all of them are too stereotypical for someone like Lana."

"I think wedding presents and I think of things like cutlery and blenders," Danny mused thoughtfully, "but Lana would have all those things wouldn't she?"

I nodded, "definitely. Besides anything that belongs in the kitchen would be useless because Lana can't cook. I was thinking I'd get her a lifetime supply of Tim Tams, but then I realised that would be my dream wedding present and not hers," I grinned.

"Really?" Danny asked in amusement, "a lifetime supply of Tim Tams?"

I nodded and bit into another chip, "definitely. My life would be complete."

Danny smiled, "I'll keep that in mind."

"So are you excited about the CD launch?" I questioned as I topped up our wine glasses, "It's going to be brilliant!"

"Brilliant?" Danny repeated with a raised eyebrow, "aren't you counting your coins a little too early for that?"

I shrugged, "I hope not because I've already written the press release." I grinned at his doubtful face, "I'm the best event manager in London Danny, relax."

"And so modest too," he added clinking his glass against mine.

"Well I get paid for a reason I suppose."

"Do you have any promotions on the horizon?"

"From the Gremlin?"

"Yeah." Danny popped a chip into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully, "I liked that lady."

I shrugged, "who knows. I don't think there's anywhere left to go. The next step for me would be to start my own company."

"That'd be cool. You'd be good at that."

I tipped my head to the side and surveyed him thoughtfully, "Maybe. What about you? Any more plans now that your new CD is coming out?"

Danny opened his mouth to answer, before closing it and looking at me thoughtfully, "Actually speaking of my new CD, I was wanting to ask if you'd go with me to the CD launch."

I raised an eyebrow, "as a date?"

"Yeah," Danny confirmed, "tonight has been pretty successful. I reckon if we drink as much wine at the launch as we have tonight, then that date might be successful too."

"And what then?"

"We could go to the wedding together," Danny suggested with a sly grin.

I leant back in my seat and surveyed him closely, "really?"

"If you want to."

I smiled, "ya know, all these dates are going to require a lot of wine."

"Well," Danny mused slowly, "I'm hoping that by the time we get to the wedding that we won't need the wine… So what do you say?"

"Pick me up at eight?"

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"Would you like a drink Amber?"

I smiled politely at the waiter, "no thank you."

"Amber!" Lana whined from across the table, "have a drink, this launch is a huge success, and everyone who is anyone is here. Reward yourself."

I pointed at her, "I will. As soon as everyone who can make or break this event leaves, I will be at that bar downing cocktails like there's no tomorrow," I promised, "until then. I'm on my best behaviour."

Lana finished the remains of her drink with great exaggeration.

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention away from her to the large room I had hired for McFly's CD launch. It was packed to the brim with every single person worth knowing in the UK. I had lost track of Danny and the boy's hours ago… as soon as they had stepped into the room they had been swept away in conversation with various important looking men in suits. Aside from their disappearance, everything was running very smooth, I hadn't had much to do except sit around nervously with Lana.

I took a deep breath and willed myself to relax. I turned my interest back to Lana and grinned, "so…"

She looked at me in confusion, "so what?"

I beamed at her, "Tell me about the wedding! I've been so caught up in work that it's been ages since you've updated me on all the plans."

Lana screeched dramatically. Fortunately the room was so loud that the piercing noise that erupted from her throat didn't travel far. "Everything is perfect. I hired a wedding planner."

"A wedding planner?" I repeated with a laugh, "why? You're trained in event management."

Lana rolled her eyes, "planning your own wedding takes the fun out of the event. Look at you sitting there all stressed out when you should be enjoying yourself. Why in the world are you so stressed anyway? I don't think I've ever seen you stressed before."

I shrugged, "I just want to night to run smoothly."

Lana perched her elbows on the table, "all your event run smoothly. There's more to it than that." And then as though reading the answer in my eyes her mouth dropped open, "awwwww, you want everything to go well for Danny."

"Don't be stupid," I responded although I suppose she was partially right, "the boys are my clients, I want this night to go well for all of them."

Lana grinned knowingly at me.

I scowled at her and began to slide out of the booth; "I'm going to get a drink now."

Lana lifted her glass to me, "so glad you've decided to join me."

I gave her the finger.

At the bar I came across Dougie… a very drunk Dougie.

"Amber!" he yelled as he stumbled up to me.

I grinned at him and reached out to pat his hair, "how are you doing? Are you having a good time?"

"I'm celebrating!" he shouted at me, lifting his drink into the air. All around us people burst into cheers. Apparently he was celebrating with a lot of people.

I turned to the barman, "I'll have whatever he's having."

"Are you going to join the celebrations Amber?" he asked me stumbling into the bar and looking at me with large bright eyes.

"Absolutely," I grinned, "what are we celebrating?"

He opened his arms dramatically, half the liquid in his drink sloshing out of his cup, "everything! You and Danny are back together…"

I blinked, "we are?"

"Lana and Eric are getting married," Dougie continued as if he hadn't heard me, "our CD is going to number one, and…" Dougie paused dramatically, "the suits have gone!"

"They have?" I spun around in a circle to confirm his words. He was right. All the music industry professionals had left the party for the evening. I grabbed the remains of Dougie's drink from his hand and sculled the contents down, it burnt all the way down my throat. "Cheers to that!"

I took my next drink from bartender and ordered a new one for Dougie. By the time it was done, I turned back around to realise that Dougie was no longer beside me, but was instead clamouring up onto the bar. "Omg," I groaned as he stood up and yelled until he had everyone's attention. Thank god everyone important had left.

Next thing I knew Danny was pushing through the crowd with Lana in tow, and then all three of them were up on the bar.

"I'd like to take this opportunity!" Danny yelled with a drink in one hand and what appeared to be a toilet roll in the other, "to thank everyone for coming!"

The crowd cheered. I grimaced and skulled down the contents of my drink, thinking that maybe if I drank enough I wouldn't remember this display in the morning.

"And on behalf of the boys, I'd like to thank the beautiful Amber for organising this event, and also thank her for everything she's done for the band over the past few months!" Danny continued provoking another round of cheers. "And also," Danny continued, "this here…" he clasped an arm around Lana, "is my good friend Lana and she's getting married in two days! Drinks all around!"

I stared up at them in a mixture of horror and amusement; those three were going to be very sick tomorrow.

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To be continued...

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Only one chapter to go folks! Let me know all the things your dying to see happen before the end :) Now's your last chance.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

If there was one thing I had learnt this year… it was that holding a wedding rehearsal the morning after McFly's album launch was not a good idea. My head was throbbing, I was so tired I was about to pass out, and I felt like my skin was covered in a fine coat of smoke and alcohol. All in all, I felt like hell.

I shuffled down the aisle desperately wishing that this moment would end so I could go home, have a shower, fall into bed, and sleep for the next month.

"Be serious Amber," Lana urged from behind me, "this is my wedding rehearsal."

I rubbed my face with one hand, and turned around to face her, "what are you talking about? I'm walking down the aisle just like you told me to."

"Your shuffling down the aisle," Lana corrected me.

"Lana," I whined shuffling back up the aisle and falling against her dramatically, "I'm tired and I'm hung over. Is this really necessary?"

"Lana wants to make sure that you can walk," Eric joked from his position at the top of the hall. He had ceased to stand over fifteen minutes ago and was now slumped on the alter steps next to Danny and the other groomsmen. They looked completely out of place sitting there in their wrinkled smelly going out clothes. None of us had bothered to go home and change before coming here. Instead we all just stumbled from the club to the church in a drunken heap. How very Christian of us.

All except Lana of course, who had managed to get home at a reasonable hour last night and in her stress was refusing to wear any colour except white. When I had informed her that only virgins wore white she had yelled at me, told me I was an awful friend, broke down into tears, and then sent me to the florist to pick up the flowers. For someone who had hired a wedding planner, Lana was dealing with the stress rather badly.

"Amber," Lana pleaded with me, "please cooperate. My wedding is tomorrow and you're going to give me a heart attack."

"I feel like crap," I complained.

"You look like crap," Lana told me bluntly, "now please walk down the aisle like a good bridesmaid."

Deciding to soothe her anxiety, I walked properly down the extremely long aisle. I ran the last few steps and collapsed next to Danny and Eric with a sigh of relief. "Kill me."

"Your hung over," Eric reminded me as though this explained everything.

I pointed at him, "That's not my fault."

"Then whose fault is it?"

I wracked my brains, "I don't know. Who bought all those shots for me?"

"The evil devil like concoctions that tasted like nail polish remover," Danny mumbled his voice raspy. His voice had disappeared at some point throughout the night and he was still waiting patiently for it to come back.

I shuddered in memory, "yeah those ones."

"They were a product of Mr Poynter."

"Of course."

"Were they the gross looking black ones that resembled molasses?" Eric asked as his eyes followed Lana around the hall.

I blinked and looked at him, "were they black? That's not a good sign."

"You guys were lighting them on fire," Eric reminded me.

I shivered in disgust. No wonder I felt like crap. I had consumed the dreaded black alcoholic poison. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"I think I'm still drunk," Danny said as he rubbed a hand over his face wearily. "Do you think Lana would hate me if I bailed."

'Yes," Eric and I replied together.

"I hate your fiancé," Danny groaned.

Eric ignored him, his eyes on Lana, "have you ever seen her like this?"

I followed his gaze. Lana was currently in a heated argument with her wedding planner. From the looks of things a bird had flown in from outside, and Lana wanted to kill it with her bare hands. I smiled, "she just wants everything to be perfect."

"You'd think she'd be used to it with all the events she plans on a regular basis," Danny said with a frown.

"Yeah but its different when its your own." My eyes followed Lana as she paced up and down the aisle. "Hell she's getting married, that's a huge day in your life."

"Do you want to get married one day Amber?" Eric asked curiously.

I shrugged, "maybe."

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Several hours later I practically fell over the threshold to my apartment. I blinked in surprise when I realised that Jay was sprawled out on my bed. I grimaced at him, "now is really not the time Jay."

He looked at me in amusement, "you look like shit."

I scowled, "so I've been told."

I stumbled through my apartment kicking off my heels and pulling my jewellery off, "so what brings you to my humble abode?"

"Gossip of course," Jay replied as he observed my progress, "you're a superstar."

I looked at him in confusion, "huh?"

He held up a magazine and right there smack in the middle stood Danny and myself at the launch party. The image wasn't anything exciting, but the headline still proclaimed in bold type 'Danny Jones finds love!'

I grimaced at the shrewdness of it, "bloody hell. Could my day get any more crappy right now?"

Jay lowered the magazine and grinned excitedly at me, "so I see everything turned out quite nicely between you and guitar boy."

I pointed at him, "now's really not the time Jay."

"Oh come on Jack," he smiled as he got off the bed and followed me into the bathroom, "give me something. My love life is non existent so I have to live vicariously through you."

"Jay…" I protested as I turned the shower on.

He boosted himself up onto my bathroom counter; "I'm not leaving until I get all the latest."

"Well at least close your eyes until I get into the shower."

He obeyed and I undressed quickly, stepping into the shower and pulling the curtain across. "There's not a lot to tell Jay," I began as the hot water washed the invisible clubbing filth from my body, "life has been hectic. We haven't really had a lot of time to sit down and talk since our date."

"But things are good right?"

I soaped up my hair, "yeah I think so. Things have been kind of casual though so it's hard to tell."

"I'm sure everything will work out fine." Jay assured me, "your happy?"

I poked my head around the curtain and raised an eyebrow at him, "aside from that stupid article I'm going to have to spend all afternoon smoothing over with the press… I'm good."

He grinned at me and was just opening his mouth to reply when someone started banging on my front door. "Can you get that?" I asked him as I stepped back under the stream, and began washing the shampoo from my hair.

I was just starting to apply conditioner when I heard Lana's voice in the other room, "Amber!" she yelled.

"In here Miss Bride to be," I called back.

Lana stormed into the bathroom and began pacing back and forth.

I poked my head out around the curtain, "how nice of you to join me in this hygienic moment."

"Don't joke with me Amber," Lana scowled at me, "I'm cracking up. I can't do this. I'm about to have a heart attack."

"What are you…" I began.

"I can't get married," Lana screeched!

I blinked in surprise, "what?"

"I mean what am I thinking?" Lana ranted, as she paced in front of Jay and myself "I'm not the marrying type Girls like me don't get married. We have careers and relish in our independence and hang out with our girlfriends and make fun of all those women who are tied down as housewives. I can't be a housewife. I'm not maternal. I hate kids!"

"Lana calm down."

"I can't calm down! I'm ruining my life. I'm cutting myself off from every other man in the world. What if Eric isn't the guy for me? I can't get married I haven't had enough sex! I haven't slept around enough, aren't you supposed to sleep around with a certain amount of men before you get married?"

"Well I…"

"Amber," Lana whispered her eyes wide, "what if I'm making a mistake?"

Silence. I blinked several times trying to understand the situation. Here I was… in the shower… with Jay pressing for information about my love life and Lana cracking up about hers. Meanwhile I was on the cover of every tabloid in the country. Could this situation be any more bizarre?

Danny stepped into the room, "Amber your front door was open," he paused and trailed his eyes from me to Lana and then to Jay, "what's going on? Slumber party?"

Apparently it could be.

"Ya know," I began, "I remember a time when a shower was a private affair."

"Amber!" Lana whined her eyes wide.

"Lana you've just got cold feet. You love Eric, he's perfect for you remember."

Danny's eyes widened, "are you calling off the wedding?"

"Of course she's not," I replied easily before looking at Lana, "your not are you?"

"Why do you think I'm here?" Lana demanded, "I can't make that sort of decision all by myself."

I stared at her as though she were insane, "are you nuts? How could you even consider something like that?"

Jay looked at us all in amusement, "oh this is like something out of a soap opera."

Lana glared at him, "I'm glad you find pleasure in my pain."

I began washing the conditioner from my hair, "well then I suppose there's only one thing to do."

"What's that?" Lana asked anxiously.

"We make a pro con list."

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"This is ridiculous," Jay stated half an hour later.

Danny bit into a slice of pizza, "I think it's logical."

The four of us were spread across my apartment. Lana was in deep concentration over her pro con list, Danny was engrossed in the tabloid with us on the cover, I was on the phone to anyone I could find trying to get rid of it, and Jay was sprawled out on the floor with a canvas and some paints.

"This technique has helped me make many decisions," I told them as I got off the phone and peered over Lana's shoulder, "put the fact that we get to wear pretty dresses on the pro list."

"But being stuck with someone for the rest of your life has got to be on the con," Jay put in.

Danny looked up from the magazine, "not necessarily."

"If all else fails you can always get divorced," I shrugged, "so that's got to be a pro."

"How crushed Eric would be would be a con," Danny mused thoughtfully.

"But being single and free to date anyone you want is a pro," I added.

Lana looked at me, "yeah but being single once your over 30 is a con."

Jay looked up from his painting, "this list could go on forever."

I shrugged, "yeah well marrying someone is a big decision to make."

An hour later there was a clear consensus.

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Ok ok I lied... turns out there's one more chapter.

TCB

Review!!


	13. Chapter 13

**Authors Note **- This chapter marks my retirement from the world of McFly . A big thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed my stories (Muscrove Apartments, Walk in the Sun, Darts of Pleasure)… It's been great, but my tentative love for McFly has been on the slow decline for a while now and I've moved on to other interests.

But anyways, here's the final chapter! I hope you all enjoy it! Keep an eye out for my future writing ventures.

Thanks again!

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**Chapter Thirteen**

I stared at my reflection, my eyes running over my body from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I waited for the moment to arrive… the moment where I would be absolutely repulsed at what I was currently adorned in… but for some strange reason, that feeling never came. And it was then I realised that Lana had actually pulled it off. She had somehow managed to make a lurid pink bridesmaid dress actually look… nice.

"So?" Lana prompted.

I looked at her and smiled. She looked so beautiful standing there in her traditional wedding dress. She looked like a doll on a cake, but somehow she managed to pull that off as well. "Its perfect Lana."

She reached out and brushed a piece of lint from the fabric thoughtfully, "I should have been a stylist. Do you think it's too late for a career change?"

I trailed my fingers along the gorgeous fabric of my dress, "I think that's a question you'll have to ask a pro and con list."

Lana let out a breath and clutched at my arms, "so everything is good right? I'm good?"

I cupped her face and kissed her forehead, "your good. The pro and con list never lies."

Lana nodded and flattened her hair nervously. Behind her pinned to the wall was the infamous list, with the pro side significantly longer than the con. Although admittedly we had gotten a little silly at the end listing pros such as the cute little freckle on Eric's back and his tendency flick his hair out of his eyes. But they all added up to make Lana realise that she couldn't live without him. Wedding day crisis successfully avoided.

I turned back to the mirror, "I love my dress."

As I preened, Lana paced the room biting her nails nervously, "so you'll water my plants while I'm on my honeymoon right? And please keep my fish alive. If I come home and find them dead then I'm going to make you flush them down the toilet and buy me new ones."

I turned my attention away from the mirror, "I think I'll manage." I smoothed my dress down and picked up my bouquet. "Are we ready then?"

Lana took a deep breath and nodded. I fussed over the train of her gown.

As I was fussing Lana's dad popped his head around the corner, "we're all ready for you Lana."

And with those six words, I suddenly got emotional, "aw Lana."

Lana looked over her shoulder at me. She grimaced when she realised I was looking at her all gooey eyed, "geeze Amber suck it up please. I refuse to get all emotional before I even leave this tiny little dressing room."

I opened my arms wide and walked towards her for a hug.

She fended me off with her bouquet, "I'm serious Amber if you make me cry I swear to god I'll mmffffttt…."

Her words were cut off when I practically smothered her with the force of my hug. I won't go into detail, but we both had a rather elongated girly moment. Two rational women reduced to tears in a hideous little room with white lace curtains and stained glass windows. How mortifying. Oh well, I'm sure its a story Lana will tell the grand kids.

After pulling ourselves together, touching up our make-up and wishing each other good luck. Lana's dad practically pushed me out of the room so he could have a moment with his daughter.

* * *

Ten minutes later I was walking down a long aisle scattered with rose petals. It was an incredibly strange moment. You enter the room and every single person's eyes turn to you, they look you up and down, eye you critically, and then turn to their partner to gossip about your dress. When in the world did the primary attraction at weddings become the fashion?

As far as I was concerned, a wedding presented the opportunity for me to showcase how marvellous I was as an event manager. But a smaller more emotionally girly part of me understood that a wedding wasn't about anything superficial like that… it was about love.

As I walked, I ignored all the whispering guests; my eyes were on Danny who looked unbelievably attractive standing next to an equally attractive Eric. I smiled softly at him and he winked at me causing my heart to flutter in my chest. Maybe the two of us would be okay after everything that had happened.

Watching Lana walk into the room was beautiful. Watching Eric's expression was even better. His face was all I needed to see to know without any doubt that the pro con list was right.

* * *

The best thing about weddings – open bar, embarrassing music from the 80s, friends and loved ones getting blind drunk, and dancing with Danny Jones.

"I thought you were going to flood the hall."

"I didn't cry that much."

Danny pulled me through the dancing couples until we reached the centre of the dance floor. "You were a mess Amber." He pulled me into his arms.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and swayed to the music with him, "you can't talk. I saw a tear or two from you Mr Jones."

His mouth dropped open, "I didn't cry."

"You did so, you had one of those amazing tears that lingered for ages before falling down your cheek like something out of a soap opera."

"I didn't cry. I was a model of masculinity," Danny replied with a mock proud look on his face.

I looked at him doubtfully.

"Ok so maybe I was a bit teary," he admitted, "but it was a nice wedding."

"Beautiful," I agreed.

Danny pulled me closer and rested his cheek against mine, "and what about you Miss Slater, do you want to get married one day?"

I shrugged and trailed my hands down his back, "to the right guy at the right time… maybe." I pulled back slightly so I could see into his eyes, "and you?"

He smiled, "to the right girl, at the right time… maybe."

I raised an eyebrow, "well its nice to know we're on the same wavelength at least."

Danny smiled and hugged me close, burying his face into my neck, "so," he mumbled against my skin, "we've embarked on several successful dates, and even managed to make it through them without copious amounts of alcohol. What does this mean?" Danny pulled away from my neck and looked at me curiously, his eyes boring into my own.

"Well," I began as my hands clutched at the front of his suit jacket, "I guess that all depends on whether you think said dates were good enough to stick around for a bit longer."

Danny rolled his eyes, "c'mon Amber you know what my answer is to that one."

"Yeah but I'd kind of like to hear you say it." I smoothed down his tie and lapels, "after everything… I feel a little insecure when it comes to you and me. I don't want to start something if you're just going to leave me in your dust again."

"It's different this time."

"How is it different?"

It was a simple enough question, a simple question that needed a not so simple answer. I watched patiently as a range of emotions flew across Danny's face. His brow furrowed thoughtfully, and he stopped swaying aimlessly to the music, lost in his own thoughts.

Finally he replied, "I can't tell you, I'll have to show you."

I was intrigued, "show me? Show me what?"

Danny answered by grabbing my hand and leading me out of the room. We exited the church and rounded the large building until we reached the gardens. They were absolutely gorgeous, but I couldn't fathom why Danny was bringing me here.

"Where are we going?"

Danny wrapped an arm around my shoulders; "you know someone told me once that patience is a virtue."

"I didn't tell you that did I?"

Danny laughed, "No I don't think so."

"Good cause my advice always comes back to bite me in the bum."

Danny led me to a spot under a huge ancient looking tree. "Here we are."

I blinked several times, "your showing me a tree?"

"No. We're here so I can show you this."

And he kissed me. He clasped my cheek, closed the distance between us and pressed his lips to my own. And it was just like… going home to Australia. The familiarity, mixed with the longing and the desire to be at a place that you feel completely comfortable. I stood on tiptoe and wrapped my arms around him, kissing him back with every ounce of passion I could muster. And it was just like those six months had never occurred and we were just picking up right where we left off the day he left Muscrove Apartments. And I suddenly understood completely… it was different. I'm not exactly sure how, but I was positive that I would figure it out over time.

I smiled against his lips and he smiled back pulling away slightly, "so am I making myself clear?"

I kissed him again, "very clear."

Danny pulled me tight into his arms and kissed my temple, "so does this mean I can tell everyone I've managed to get back the girl I'm in love with."

"As long as you tell them your back for good then I don't care what you say." I replied as I twined my fingers into his hair. "Hey Danny?"

"Yeah?"

I bit my lip and looked into his eyes, "I love you too. You know that right? I always have. Even through all the shit. You were always the only one."

A large happy grin crossed Danny's face, and he kissed me again and again, right there under the large ancient tree. "Oh I have some news by the way," Danny suddenly mumbled against my lips.

"Yeah?" I questioned my mind hazy with the passion we had just shared.

"I'm moving back into Muscrove Apartments."

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---The End---

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